Posts tagged ABC test
New Jersey Codifies ABC Test for Independent Contractor Classification
June 1, 2026 // For employers, the practical lesson is familiar: states continue to move toward more aggressive worker-classification enforcement, and California remains the clearest example of that trend. California has led the nation in challenging independent contractor classifications through the ABC framework and related litigation and enforcement activity. New Jersey’s recent legislation reflects that same direction, and New York has also continued moving toward a more worker-protective approach. Other states have likewise adopted ABC-style tests in at least some contexts, making it increasingly risky for businesses to rely on a uniform, multistate independent contractor model without jurisdiction-specific review.
Unions, businesses urge legislators in opposite directions on independent contractor rules
May 13, 2026 // “New Jersey’s labor department says it may consider some factors in one case but not in another case, so who knows what matters?” said Kim Kavin, a freelance writer long opposed to ABC regulations. “The department says it may consider factors that aren’t listed anywhere.”
New Jersey Adopts ABC Test Rule
May 5, 2026 // Today, under the administration of Governor Mikie Sherrill, the State of New Jersey adopted the previous administration’s proposed independent-contractor rule that faced 3-to-1 opposition at last summer’s public hearing and 99% opposition during the written public-comment process.
NEW JERSEY: NJBIA Urges Sherrill Administration to Not Adopt Independent Contractor Rule
April 29, 2026 // Further, in data highlighted in Extremism and Entrepreneurism, a 98-page report from Freelance Busting founder Kim Kavin, there is already empirical research by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University showing that New Jersey’s ABC test applications have already resulted in the following from 1995-2024: a 3.81% decrease in W-2 employment a 10.08% decrease in self-employment a 3.95% decrease in overall employment a 7.40% decrease in women’s W-2 employment Kavin’s report also found evidence suggesting the underlying claim by labor groups to restrict independent contracting in New Jersey was based “largely on mischaracterized data and research.”
Freelance Busting: The ABC Test Defense
April 22, 2026 // And perhaps most important, according to all of the oral testimony and thousands of written public comments submitted to New Jersey’s Labor Department, there are zero people being unknowingly classified as independent contractors. You can download and read here the eight (yes, only eight out of about 9,500) public comments that individuals supporting the proposed rule change filed. Not a single one of them says the person was unknowingly working as an independent contractor.
Commentary: Four Lies And A Truth
April 1, 2026 // The New Jersey AFL-CIO dropped some real whoppers in an email to state legislators about independent-contractor policy.
The Rise of Portable Benefits
March 19, 2026 // States like Alabama, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming have already enacted voluntary portable benefits frameworks. Others—including Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia—have launched pilot programs. And a growing number of states—from Connecticut to Kansas to Hawaii—are actively considering legislation.
Commentary: The Federal Government Just Moved to Restore the Owner-Operator Model – Here Is What Actually Changed, What Did Not, and What You Still Need to Watch
March 16, 2026 // Three times in five years. That is how many times the federal standard governing whether an owner-operator is legally classified as an independent contractor or an employee has fundamentally shifted under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The 2021 Trump rule. The 2024 Biden rule. And now, on February 27, 2026, the Department of Labor’s formal proposal to rescind the 2024 rule and return to something close to the 2021 framework. Each time this pendulum swings, the trucking industry produces a wave of celebration or alarm depending on which direction it moved. The industry’s reaction to this latest move has been heavily celebratory — and not without reason. But if you are running a small fleet or operating as an owner-operator, the celebration needs to come with a clear-eyed understanding of what this rule change actually does, what it does not do, and where the real risk to your business model still sits.
NJBIZ Exclusive: NJ voters support gig workers as independent contractors
March 12, 2026 // 75% of New Jersey voters back rideshare, delivery drivers keeping independent contractor status 72% support portable benefits, allowing workers to earn health, dental, vision, retirement benefits while staying independent Support spans Democrats (76%), Independents (71%), Republicans (69%); 84% of app-based workers in favor Poll shows broad understanding of gig economy; preference for flexible, hybrid work models
New Jersey: ‘Billions of Dollars’
December 22, 2025 // Gonzalez and Asaro-Angelo are not the only people who have used the word billions. At the federal level, U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia claimed in a January 2024 press release that misclassification was a nearly $4 billion per year problem—citing this research from, you guessed it, the Economic Policy Institute. But in December 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that since January 2021—after nearly four full years of the Biden administration prioritizing the issue of employee misclassification nationwide—it had recovered only about $41 million in back wages for some 28,000 workers.