SANTA CLARITA, February 21, 2019 – The Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce is joining the fight to protect independent contractors’ right to work in California. The California Chamber has launched their ‘I’m Independent’ coalition, which has been advocating for freelancers right to work in the state.
“For several decades, California has allowed independent contractors to be part of the workforce, allowing individuals who need schedule flexibility and an extra income to make ends meet,” stated Nancy Starczyk, 2019 Chair of the Board. “For the California Supreme Court to make a decision that should be put in the hands of our policy makers is unheard of.”
April of 2018, the California Supreme Court ruled the Dynamex case, making it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors. The Borello test, which is what the state had followed for since the 1970s, has been replaced with the ABC Test. For a worker to be identified as an independent contractor, employers must show they are free from employer control, perform outside the company’s mission, and be independently established in that trade.
“Classifying a worker as an employee or independent contractor is not as easy as A-B-C,” state Hunt Braly (John Musella), TITLE. “Being an independent contractor allowed for a single-parent or struggling families to have flexibility to work multiple jobs to bring in a supplemental income and not the average nine to five, so they can their children to school or pick them up. It allowed for families to spend more time with each other, because flexibility was an option.”
The SCV Chamber of Commerce has joined a long list of coalition members that are urging for the Legislature to take this into their hands, stating that it should be formulated by policy makers and elected officials that represent their constituents, rather the courts who aren’t elected by the people.
ABOUT THE SANTA CLARITA VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Founded in 1923, the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce is the leading business advocacy organization in the Santa Clarita Valley representing more than 65,000-member employees and the third largest city in the County of Los Angeles.
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