February 19, 2020 — Agriculture, which typically relies on labor that’s seasonal and sometimes miscellaneous, is in for some uncertainty under AB5, the new state law that shakes up the definitions of employees and contractors.
The law is supposed to protect workers from exploitation, but with exemptions for entities providing any of sixteen types of services through a referral agency if ten criteria are met, or business-to-business service providers that are entities to which twelve conditions apply, it can be difficult to figure out what it all means.
Last week, the Mendocino County Farm Bureau invited speakers from Sacramento to brief local members on what kinds of situations now qualify as employment or contractor scenarios, and how those in the ag sector can stay on the right side of a law they view as highly problematic.
We’ll hear from local Farm Bureau president George Hollister and Bryan Little, of the California Farm Bureau Federation and the Farm Labor Employers Service, about their thoughts on the complications and uncertainties of the new law.