California Ruling Narrows Independent Contractor Classification (XBIZ)

Read the full article by Rhett Pardon at XBIZ.com

SAN FRANCISCO — If your California business is paying workers as independent contractors, there is a new legal test for you.

In a landmark decision yesterday, the California Supreme Court made it harder for employers to classify workers as independent contractors.

Industry attorney Karen Tynan told XBIZ that with the ruling, “This is a time for companies to manage this risk and make sure that misclassification is not occurring."

"Since most adult companies pay set workers and talent as independent contractors, this is business altering," Tynan said. “Many workers previously classified as independent contractors must now be classified as employees. Further, this decision will likely embolden plaintiff’s attorneys who will take on many misclassification cases knowing that the standard has shifted.”

With the decision, the court embraced a more rigid evaluation than the current, looser standard for determining whether a worker is an employee or a contractor, Tynan said.