California AB5

El gobierno de Biden revisa la norma sobre contratistas independientes 

Driver with truck at service station

El gobierno de Biden ha desvelado una propuesta de norma que podría aumentar los costos de las empresas de transporte y de los gigas de transporte, como Uber y Lyft, que dependen de contratistas independientes. 

La norma propuesta de 184 páginas, revelada por la División de Salarios y Horas (WHD) del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. el martes, restablece una orientación similar a la utilizada bajo la administración de Obama que se considera menos favorable a la clasificación de los trabajadores...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/el-gobierno-de-biden-revisa-la-norma-sobre-contratistas-independientes

Biden administration revising rule on independent contractors

Driver with truck at service station

The Biden administration has unveiled a proposed rule that could raise costs for trucking companies and gig transportation, such as Uber and Lyft, that rely on independent contractors.

The 184-page proposed rule, revealed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on Tuesday, reinstates guidance similar to that used under the Obama administration that is considered less favorable to classifying workers as independent contractors.

“Through our enforcement in the wage and hour...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-administration-revising-rule-on-independent-contractors

AB5 law continues to perplex trucking industry — Taking the Hire Road

There remain plenty of questions about how California’s AB5 law will affect other states, truck driver retention and taxing efforts.

“You’re always one election away from things changing, but this is not a red-versus-blue issue,” said Doug Grawe, founder and CEO of The Grawe Group, a law firm as well as a business consultancy that assists companies within the trucking and logistics industry with special projects, leadership and general counsel services.

“A lot of this issue comes out of the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ab5-law-continues-to-perplex-trucking-industry-taking-the-hire-road

Carriers might decide to risk pushing AB5 enforcement limits

Drayage truck at Port of Los Angeles

Concern over California’s AB5 law and its potential effects on trucking is at the point where one high-level official believes some carriers may decide to push the limits of enforcement in order to survive.

“In my opinion, there will be companies that take the risk and say we’ll run as owner-operators until someone decides to enforce AB5,” said Harold Sumerford, CEO of J&M Tank Lines and chairman of the American Trucking Associations. “I’m not willing to take the risk.”

Speaking Thursday at a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/carriers-might-decide-to-risk-pushing-ab5-enforcement-limits

Power index: Top 10 regulatory/legislative stories of 2021

Amid the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. supply chains, 2021 has seen significant new laws and changes within the regulatory and legislative landscape affecting carriers and their customers. The following are what we consider the Top 10 stories — in no particular order — chronicling those changes and why they matter to freight markets.

Bipartisan infrastructure package

Summary: President Joe Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill — known formally as the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/power-index-top-10-regulatory-legislative-stories-of-2021

Food delivery apps face EU crackdown: Are US companies next?

Companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash could feel the heat in the U.S. when EU lawmakers rule on gig worker classification this week

Third-party food delivery companies in Europe aren’t doing so hot. The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, is scheduled to meet this week to propose what speculators believe will be stricter labor rules to regulate the gig economy in the region.

Specifically, ​​reports suggest that the commission will require gig companies to directly employ their couriers, rather than classify them as independent contractors. On the heels of that news, investors have soured on food delivery...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/food-delivery-apps-face-eu-crackdown-are-us-companies-next

Check Call: Not much gold in the Golden State

Group of people huddled around desks

Hot Takes

Image: theabctest.com

The Golden State isn’t proving to hold up to its name with recent Assembly Bill 5. As the bill was written, independent contractors must operate under the “ABC Test.” Once a contractor satisfies all three requirements below, he or she can operate as an independent contractor in the state of California. The requirements are: 

  1. The person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity, both in contract and in fact.
  2. The person performs work that is outside...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-not-much-gold-in-the-golden-state

Uber, Lyft and others face a reckoning

uber lyft instacart gig workers prop 22 ab5 classification

About two weeks ago, thousands of people across the United States took to the streets in protest, hoisting signs with damning statements like “Driving us into poverty” or “32 cents a mile is not enough.” In cities from Los Angeles to Boston, the masses clamored to be heard, tensions flared and the streets seemed suspiciously devoid of ridesharing vehicles.

The protests could be more accurately described as a strike against the ridesharing industry’s titans, Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft (NASDAQ:...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-lyft-and-others-face-a-reckoning

Partisan PRO Act gets pushback

On July 22, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Right to Organize: Empowering American Workers in a 21st Century Economy.” This hearing centered around the PRO Act, the maligned federal legislation which would essentially eliminate the successful independent contractor model in the trucking industry. TCA and our industry partners have vocally opposed the PRO Act, and we have taken the time to carefully explain to members of Congress why...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/partisan-pro-act-gets-pushback

News Alert: Appeals court denies request to rehear AB5 decision

A decision by a federal appeals court on Monday could allow California to begin enforcing its independent contractor law over the trucking industry in as soon as one week.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied a petition filed last month by the California Trucking Association (CTA) for an en banc rehearing of the court’s April decision that removed a lower court’s injunction exempting the trucking industry from the independent contractor law known as AB5. The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/news-alert-appeals-court-denies-request-to-rehear-ab5-decision

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