Employment: employees and independent contractors: merchandisers.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about the 'ABC' test exemption or how it compares with other exemptions for professional services. Therefore, these statements were removed as they are speculative based on the provided information.

Employment Rules for Merchandisers

AB-816 creates an exemption for merchandisers working with businesses to place products in stores, allowing them to be classified as independent contractors under certain conditions.

What This Bill Does

• Adds a new rule that allows merchandisers contracting with companies to set up and arrange products in stores to be considered independent contractors if they meet specific requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

• Merchandisers who work with businesses to arrange products in stores.
• Retailers and brands in the consumer-packaged goods industry who hire merchandisers.

Terms To Know

ABC test

A set of rules used to decide if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

Independent Contractor

Someone who works for themselves and provides services to others without being directly employed by them.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when it will take effect.
• It only affects merchandisers working in the consumer-packaged goods industry, not all types of workers or businesses.

Official Summary Text

AB 816, as amended, Flora.
Employment: employees and independent
contractors.
contractors: merchandisers.
Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the “ABC” test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission. Under the ABC test, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the
enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification
Existing law exempts certain occupations and business relationships from the application of the ABC test described above. Existing law, instead, provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously adopted in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. These exemptions include professional services provided by graphic designers, fine artists, content contributors, and various others, subject to meeting specified conditions.
This bill would create an exemption for a merchandiser contracting with a bona fide business or hiring entity to
provide stand-alone in-store inventory and product placement labor or services on behalf of retailers and brands in the consumer-packaged goods industry, as specified.
Existing law considers a person providing labor or services for remuneration, for purposes of the Labor Code and the Unemployment Insurance Code, and for the purposes of wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, to be an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that certain conditions are satisfied, as specified. Existing law exempts a bona fide business-to-business contracting relationship, as defined, from this presumption if specified conditions are met, including, among other things, that an individual acting as a sole proprietor contracts to provide services to another such business.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the provisions that exempt business-to-business relationships from the presumption described above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF