Lawyer Monthly Magazine -December 2019 Edition

Employment Law From the Gig Economy taking the headlines again and again, all the way through to minimum wages and pay gap reporting, employment law is an area which had a few wake up calls throughout the year, in the UK and US. In September, Lawmakers in California passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) - a move designed to pave the way for “gig workers” to become employees and gain additional rights. Some argued it will make things worse for those who want to work flexibly, whereas others argued the gig economy enables “Workers [to] lose basic protections like the minimum wage, paid sick days and health insurance benefits.” The new law demands that workers are considered employees unless companies can prove that the worker is “free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work”. Earlier this year in April, the European Parliament approved new EU rules for the member states - giving them three years to enforce increased transparency for those in "on-demand" jobs at companies like Uber or Deliveroo -, proposing there should be more predictable hours, compensation for work that is cancelled and an end to casual contracts, which have the tendency to shift towards a more ‘abusive’ practice. Whether or not such rules will positively impact the gig economy is yet to be determined. However, with California’s Bill already in full force, some have noted the negative impact it may have. A fine example from Times of San Diego: “AB 5 will rob workers of the freedom and flexibility they want and sometimes need from freelance work, and force more companies to leave the state than already are. California’s once-dynamic economy is on track to becoming permanently sclerotic. AB 5 is a historic istake.”