Last Friday, September 4, Governor Newsom signed AB 2257, which includes a slew of modifications to the now-infamous AB5, which went into effect this year and codified the strict ABC independent contractor test, which we have addressed previously in this blog.

With this new amendment, there are now more than 100 exemptions and limitations to the original law, which was aimed at reclassifying the hundreds of thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers from independent contractors to employees. As we have reported before, AB 5 was authored by California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), a former CEO of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Legendary former Democratic Speaker of the California Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown has this to say about AB 5: “If there was a place to picket organized labor, I’d do it today,” Brown said. “If there was a place to picket a legislator, I’d do it,” he said. As Assembly Speaker, “I made sure that special interests, no matter who they were — labor or non labor — did not take advantage of the Legislature,” but he said it was clear this time was not the case.

Music Industry

The latest changes to AB5 is the introduction of exemptions for certain music industry workers – including recording artists, songwriters, lyricists, composers, proofers, managers of recording artists, record producers and directors, musical engineers and mixers, musicians, vocalists, photographers working in the music industry, independent radio promoters, and any other individual engaged to render creative, production, marketing, or independent music publicist services. The practical effect of the exemption is that the multi-factor Borello test, rather than the ABC test, would apply in determining whether the music industry worker qualifies as an independent contractor; and AB 2257 provides that, in all instances, any current or future collective bargaining agreements or contractual agreements between the applicable labor unions and respective employers shall govern the determination of employment status for these music industry workers.

AB 2257 specifically notes that workers in other entertainment industries (such as film and television unit production crews) do not qualify for an exemption.

Freelance Writers and Photographers

AB 2257 also modifies the exemption in AB 5 for freelance writers and photographers, removing the controversial 35-submission limit which had been the subject of litigation. The submission limit previously made writers and photographers who submitted more than 35 articles or projects per year ineligible for the exemption. Now such writers and photographers could be exempt from AB 5 and the ABC test, provided they meet certain requirements, including that: (i) there is a written contract that specifies rate of pay, intellectual property rights, and an obligation to pay by a defined time; (ii) the individual doesn’t otherwise replace an employee; (iii) the individual does not primarily work at the location of the hiring entity; and (iv) there is no restriction preventing the individual from working for more than one entity.

Other Changes and Where Do We Go From Here?

These are just some of the changes introduced by AB 2257. There are also several additions, changes, and clarifications to the business-to-business exemption. The new version of the B2B exemption requires that business service providers be free to provide services to other clients, rather than requiring that they provide services to more than one client. The modified exemption also allows business service providers to provide services directly to the customers of a contracting business so long as its employees are performing the services under the name of the business service provider and the business service provider regularly contracts with other businesses.

The referral agency exemption – which could apply to the relationship between an individual, on the one hand, and a business that refers that individual’s services to clients, on the other – also received an overhaul. For example, several types of services (including youth sports coaching and wedding planning) were added to the enumerated exemption list, and the phrase “including but not limited to” was added, expanding the scope of services covered. Also, like the change in the B2B exception, the referral agency exemption has been modified so that service providers now must only be free to provide services to other clients, but they are not required to maintain a varying clientele. These are just a couple of the nearly two dozen changes to this exemption.

It is also important to note that, regardless of the current status of AB 5, further change looms on the horizon. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden vows on his campaign website that “he will work with Congress to establish a federal standard modeled on the ABC test for all labor, employment, and tax laws.” If he is elected president and carries out this promise, AB 5’s hard-fought-for exemptions may very well fall by the wayside and all workers throughout the nation, including those in California, could be subject to a federalized ABC test, which will imperil the status of independent contractors everywhere in the country. In this dynamic legislative environment, we recommend working with counsel to determine whether your employees and contractors are (and remain) properly classified.

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Photo of Tony Oncidi Tony Oncidi

Anthony J. Oncidi is the Co-Chair Emeritus of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law…

Anthony J. Oncidi is the Co-Chair Emeritus of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.

Tony is recognized as a leading lawyer by such highly respected publications and organizations as the Los Angeles Daily JournalThe Hollywood Reporter, and Chambers USA, which gives him the highest possible rating (“Band 1”) for Labor & Employment.  According to Chambers USA, clients say Tony is “brilliant at what he does… He is even keeled, has a high emotional IQ, is a great legal writer and orator, and never gives up.” Other clients report:  “Tony has an outstanding reputation” and he is “smart, cost effective and appropriately aggressive.” Tony is hailed as “outstanding,” particularly for his “ability to merge top-shelf lawyerly advice with pragmatic business acumen.” He is highly respected in the industry, with other commentators lauding him as a “phenomenal strategist” and “one of the top employment litigators in the country.”

“Tony is the author of the treatise titled Employment Discrimination Depositions (Juris Pub’g 2020; www.jurispub.com), co-author of Proskauer on Privacy (PLI 2020), and, since 1990, has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Tony has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets such as The National Law JournalBloomberg News, The New York Times, and Newsweek and Time magazines. Tony is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), PIHRA, the National CLE Conference, National Business Institute, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (Board Member), the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the State Bar of California, the California Continuing Education of the Bar Program and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter.

Tony is an appointed Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a guest lecturer at USC Law School and a guest lecturer at UCLA Law School.