AB 5 update -- LA Times, how small businesses are coping; New Times/Nor Cal, indie contractors hindered

"A new state law is changing how businesses treat workers." Article by Margot Roosevelt profiles small business impacted by AB 5 and how they are coping.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-02-14/la-fi-california-independent-contractor-small-business-ab5

Quotes include update on exceptions that are already being carved out...

"The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), is drafting a bill to exempt a few others, including musicians, freelance writers and photographers. But most industries, especially those that use low-wage workers, are likely to remain covered by the ABC test. Others can still be sued for misclassification under the previous looser rules."

"A “business-to-business” exemption in AB 5 allows contractors who set up a sole proprietorship, a limited liability corporation, a partnership or a corporation to avoid the ABC test if they meet certain criteria. In recent months, hundreds of truckers who own their own big rigs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have set themselves up as independent businesses in hopes of qualifying."

and also this photo (by Dania Maxwell, LA Times) of Christian Lebano, artistic director of the Sierra Madre Playhouse, and this story about how AB5 impacts non-profits.....

On Jan. 28, Sierra Madre canceled its annual youth production. Nine school districts had booked seats for the March adaptation of “Charlotte’s Web,” with 2,600 children, along with 400 teachers and parents, planning to attend. But paying actors and other personnel minimum wage and overtime for six weeks of rehearsals and 46 performances, along with payroll taxes and other employee costs, would have added $38,000 to a $52,000 budget, Lebano said."

Northern California article with impact on indie contractors like sign language interpreters:
https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/assembly-bill-5-hinders-local-independent-contractors/Content?oid=9285870&fbclid=IwAR168oFqjOV6TQom7aDenzLbUeo6PrYm0o0zylxBWirtonzr1TugjwLKUgw


Previous posts on the blog with info on AB 5:
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2020/01/freelancer-law-california-ab5-in-effect.html

http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/10/freelance-workers-in-ca-impacted-by-ab.html