You could blame ride-share company Uber, or California’s uber-liberal governor, or you could blame no one at all…because the total affect of Asaembly Bill 5 is still uncertain; in CA or in the rest of the states.
Uber certainly brought the issue of how independent contractors are to be classified in CA, and now, freelancers everywhere are in danger of being re-categorized as employees.
You, me, and voice actors everywhere generally operate as independent contractors. It’s how the much-hailed “gig economy” works. So it’s not just us, but graphics artists, photographers, writers, web-authors, and everyone who runs an independent business out of their home office.
If you are a voice actor in California, you might want to be having a conversation with your accountant. If live anywhere in the other 49, you might want to flag AB-5 in your Google Alerts. Click To Tweet
AB-5 will most certainly shuffle the market landscape in the Golden State fer shure. But you know the saying: “…as California goes, so goes the nation…”. That’s because CA is a huge state with a large population, a lot of political sway, and probably one of the top 12 economies in he world (if it were a country).
If AB-5 succeeds in redefining an independent contractor — that is if the corporate world acquiesces and chooses not to fight this designation, then CA’s clout will prompt other companies and other states to go along.
This might hit eLearning narrators the most. Since corporate entities provide most of the end-client opportunities in this field, your status as a freelance independent contractor could be in jeopardy.
Look, I’m no corporate attorney, CPA, or labor-law expert, but this catches my attention.
If you are a voice actor in California, you might want to be having a conversation with your accountant. If live anywhere in the other 49, you might want to flag AB-5 in your Google Alerts.
Need more? Here are some resources:
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ab5-is-now-law-in-california-now-what-86489/
https://gusto.com/blog/hiring/ab5-small-businesses
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/12/30/californias-latest-act-of-idiocy-killing-freelance-work
CourVO
and….