Since the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) in September of 2019, the rules regard who is and who is not an employee in this state have gotten ever more stringent – and confusing.
Why confusing? Because there was a very loud roar from several industries whose workers’ statuses were so severely compromised by this Bill.
I remember being at the 2019 CSEA Tax State Agency Liaison Meeting (STALM) in Sacramento after the bill was signed and one of the big concerns was truckers. Many of them work for the same company all year round (one “employer”) but own their own rigs and have always filed their tax returns using a Schedule C. Suddenly, if they had to be employees, there goes their federal deduction for the depreciation on the very expensive rig (costs approach $100,000 for some), the interest or lease fees, the fuel costs and all the other, legitimate out-of-pocket expenses they have in order to do their “jobs.”
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