The so-called gig economy often rests on exploiting workers by misclassifying them as independent contractors, which means they don’t get minimum wage, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, overtime pay, or other protections that regular employees are guaranteed (at least in theory). That may be about to change in California, where the state Supreme Court ruled to clarify how workers are classified last year, and the Assembly passed a bill this week tackling the issue.

If the bill becomes law, employers could only classify workers as independent contractors if they could prove that the workers truly controlled their own schedules and working conditions, weren’t doing work central to the company’s business model, and had their own “independently established” business or role. That would have huge ramifications for huge companies like Uber, Lyft, and Amazon, but would also apply to workers at many small businesses. The bill does exclude many jobs, though, such as doctors, real estate agents, lawyers, and some hairdressers.

AB 5 passed 53 to 11 in the Assembly and now heads to the state Senate. “Big businesses shouldn’t be able to pass their costs onto taxpayers while depriving workers of the labor law protections they are rightfully entitled to,” tweeted Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez, one of the bill’s authors, in celebration of its passage.

This blog was originally published at Daily Kos on June 1, 2019. Reprinted with permission.