In 2019 California passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) which sought to realign many independent workers who were classified as contractors to employees entitled to benefit packages like minimum wage, overtime pay, expense reimbursement, and workers compensation. I set out to develop an extra layer of the security and welfare of workers within the gig economy.
AB5 has been through cases of legal strife and opponents’ resistance. This was after it came into force on January 1, 2020; many groups, such as freelancers let alone drivers, sued filing for exemptions. In 2020, Uber, Lyft and other gig companies pushed the court to adopt a ballot initiative named, "Proposition 22," which would enable their workers to bypass AB5. Voters passed Prop 22 so independent drivers can stay informal and perform their tasks as contractors.
AB5, department-wise, would otherwise also be applied by the California authorities to other field outside the scope of the Proposition 22. Several employers have updated their systems and regard workers as employees, even if number of people fighting for their rights as independent contractors remains great. The state legislature also remains committed to reviewing the requests from other exemption requests that have been submitted.
Enforcement actions come only by complaints. In 2021, the city law officers of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco decided to initiate lawsuits or inquiries into Amazon. They assumed that the company could be misclassifying delivery drivers under AB5. They have all likewise pursued prosecution of other businesses into the service of compliance.
Despite the fact that AB5's future is in constant flux because of new exemption requests and cases, it is undoubtedly that this law has gone a long way in transforming the lives of the working class. However, mostly companies (except operate under Prop 22 exemption) will be forced to comply with the minimum standards even at the time when the legal challenge is in progress to decide whether this law is completely enforceable. Intervention thus far has mainly included filing complaints by workers and governments doing an investigation of high-profile offenders among others. Persistently pending legal battles and passions for revisions will continue the shape how AB5 will be used in the next years to come.