What impact will AB5 in California (also known as the “gig worker bill”) have on my workers’ comp policy?

If you work with contractors, freelancers, or 1099 workers in California, as of July 1, 2020, California Assembly Bill 5 (CA AB5, signed into law in September 2019; also known as the “gig worker bill”) you may be required to add them as employees to your workers’ comp policy. This means that you will have to report payroll for these workers, either as part of your Pay As You Go workers’ comp, or at the time of your annual workers’ comp audit. 

Note that this legislation went into effect on January 1, 2020, but the portion affecting workers’ comp started on July 1, 2020 (regardless of your workers’ comp policy effective date). This means that the same worker might be classified as an independent contractor on your policy for work done from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, but classified as an employee for work done on or after July 1st.