Worker status: employees and independent contractors: newspaper distributors and carriers.

Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for those purposes. Existing law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, 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. This test is commonly known as the "ABC" test, as described above. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of Dynamex and the provisions described above. These exemptions include a temporary exemption for newspaper distributors working under contract with a newspaper publisher and newspaper carriers, as those terms are defined, until January 1, 2022. This bill would extend the exemption for newspaper distributors working under contract with a newspaper publisher and newspaper carriers from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2025. The bill would require every newspaper publisher or distributor that hires or directly contracts with newspaper carriers to submit specified information related to their workforce to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency on or before March 1, 2022, March 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024, as provided. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2783 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 1561 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1561 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.