It seems that when I first brought forward this issue of AB5 there was not much to worry our musician minds. And then the pandemic appeared, bending the music industry to its knees. Well, here we are now in this time and this place, Napa Valley with vaccinations aiding in returning the life we live and music life hopefully back to normal.
Let’s do a quick review: California Assembly Bill 5 was authored to stop the misclassifications of workers. It is authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of the 80th Assembly District.
In 2004, a misclassification lawsuit was filed against a package and document delivery company called Dynamex, which had converted all of its delivery drivers from employees of the company to independent contractors. The company used this tactic to cut costs at the expense of its own workers. Drivers continued to perform essentially the same job, but without the protections afforded under the California labor codes.
