Did California Just Kill Freelance Writing?
A look at the implications of Assembly Bill 5.
California’s recently passed Assembly Bill 5 has inadvertently caused a bit of a stir among publishers and freelance writers. Created in order to help provide workers in the gig economy with some form of protection by limiting the classification of workers as independent contractors, it may affect freelance journalism in unexpected ways.
Under the bill, which becomes law in January 2020, workers must pass certain tests in order to be classified as freelancers. If those tests are not met, companies must classify the workers as employees and offer them competitive wages and benefits.
The bill is aimed most specifically at rideshare companies Uber and Lyft as well as delivery companies like Doordash, but it definitely affects every business that is app-based.
These and other newly minted businesses are classified as part of the gig economy, which is defined by Dictionary.com as “a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs.”
Freelance writers have been part of the gig economy when it was a small part of the total employment picture. The use of freelancers has been baked into the magazine business model, for example…
