Posts tagged Proposition 22
DOL Nominee Julie Su An Aggressive Enforcer, Inept Manager
March 8, 2023 // She was also a supporter of the state’s disastrous AB5 law, which was intended to force rideshare companies and other so-called gig economy businesses to treat their workers as regular employees rather than short-term workers. Su tweeted in 2019 that the law was “about preserving labor standards that are key to quality jobs in California.” There was little evidence the law wanted by or beneficial to rideshare drivers. Meanwhile numerous other traditional freelancing jobs were disrupted by the law, forcing state legislators to amend the bill to carve out many professions. Eventually state voters would pass Proposition 22 which exempted rideshare drivers from the law, stripping out the main thing its advocates wanted. The law contributed to California lagging behind the rest of the nation in jobs during the pandemic. Ironically, Su, should she be confirmed, will have another shot at it. The department already has a rulemaking in the works to go after employers for “worker misclassification” i.e., classifying them as freelancers rather than regular employees for whom the company must pay overtime and unemployment –a national version of AB5, with all the problems of that law.
Opinion: Biden must reverse course and protect independent contractors
June 17, 2022 // With this new rulemaking period, the administration has a chance to turn the page on its stridently anti-independent contractor stance. Any new rules should protect the right of Americans to make a living outside of a traditional employment relationship. Under current law, there are two ways an individual can have a relationship with someone that is paying you. The first is an employee, where a person that is paying the individual has total control over how, when, and where the work is being done.
Opinion: Time for a Law That Puts Workers, Not Unions, First
March 25, 2022 // The Employee Rights Act of 2022, unlike Biden’s PRO Act, encourages innovation and job flexibility.