This is a law with numerous carvouts (ie, pretty garbage in first place) and HIGHLY selective enforcement.
The discussion is no longer logical. You can't say here is the law - here are facts - here is result. Now it's here is law (with lots of totally random elements and exceptions that are confusing for everyone involved if you actually try and comply with it - I've had folks says they promise they are independent businesses, and they look and act like it, but the law says things like if they don't have all the business licenses setup they are not, and some cities like SF require that if you do work for a company that has business in SF that work can be considered happening in SF and so you need to get licensed there etc etc).
I used to be a stickler for trying to get folks to comply with AB5 - but I'd guess we are at 70% noncomplaince still against letter of law - and it's not worth fighting employers AND contractors to get everyone to switch when they don't want to.
One workaround I've been recently is to hire out of state or look at offshoring - freelance writers are a good example where I don't think there is a way to really hire them legally in CA, but you can still hire them outside of state as I understand it. The mechanics of turning all authors into W2 employees is such a big leap, but most authors don't have all the right business licenses setup in every city they might have work appear.
The discussion is no longer logical. You can't say here is the law - here are facts - here is result. Now it's here is law (with lots of totally random elements and exceptions that are confusing for everyone involved if you actually try and comply with it - I've had folks says they promise they are independent businesses, and they look and act like it, but the law says things like if they don't have all the business licenses setup they are not, and some cities like SF require that if you do work for a company that has business in SF that work can be considered happening in SF and so you need to get licensed there etc etc).
I used to be a stickler for trying to get folks to comply with AB5 - but I'd guess we are at 70% noncomplaince still against letter of law - and it's not worth fighting employers AND contractors to get everyone to switch when they don't want to.
One workaround I've been recently is to hire out of state or look at offshoring - freelance writers are a good example where I don't think there is a way to really hire them legally in CA, but you can still hire them outside of state as I understand it. The mechanics of turning all authors into W2 employees is such a big leap, but most authors don't have all the right business licenses setup in every city they might have work appear.