2750.4.
(a) An individual or sole proprietor providing labor or services for remuneration shall be considered an independent contractor rather than an employee with respect to the individual’s relationship with a contracting entity or platform if the following conditions are met:(1) The services to be provided by the individual are set forth in a written contract.
(2) The services to be performed by the individual pursuant to the written contract are either:
(A) Within the scope of the contracting entity’s usual course of business.
(B) Are services provided through a platform that connects individuals with third parties requesting services through the platform.
(3) The individual sets their own schedule by having the ability to accept or not accept an offer for remuneration from a contracting entity or through a platform.
(4) The individual may decline any offer for remuneration from a contracting entity or through a platform without penalty from the contracting entity or platform. This paragraph does not apply if the individual accepts an offer for remuneration in a written contract and then fails to fulfill any of the individual’s contractual obligations.
(5) The written contract meets the specifications set forth in subdivision (b).
(6) The services to be performed by the individual pursuant to the written contract are finite and limited by time or project.
(7) The individual is free to perform services to, through, or on behalf of any other contracting entity, platform, employer, or other entity, including services that are provided through a competing contracting entity or platform.
(8) The individual is free to accept tips or gratuities without the contracting entity or platform deducting those tips or gratuities from the individual’s remuneration.
(b) (1) The contract between an independent contractor and the contracting entity or platform shall be in writing and specify all of the following:
(A) The services to be performed.
(B) The remuneration offered and whether the rate is a flat amount or variable amount. If a variable amount, the contract shall specify how the variable amount will be calculated upon completion of the services performed.
(C) The estimated equivalent hourly rate for the services performed after any estimated expenses included in the contract.
(2) To the extent the contract expressly requires the independent contractor to perform services for multiple consecutive hours, the contract shall address meal and rest breaks.
(3) To the extent the contract expressly requires the independent contractor to work in excess of eight hours in a day, the contract shall include the premium rate of pay for hours worked after eight hours. Nothing shall preclude the contract from specifying a reasonable cap on the number of work hours to be performed under the contract or in a single day.
(c) (1) The estimated equivalent hourly rate specified in the written contract shall meet or exceed the current applicable minimum wage for the time that is reasonable and necessary to perform the service, excluding commute to the location where the services are to be performed.
(2) The independent contractor shall bear their own expenses unless otherwise specified in the written contract.
(3) Tips and gratuities are excluded from earnings for purposes of meeting the minimum wage requirements of this subdivision.
(d) The independent contractor shall be covered by a policy for occupational accidents that insures the independent contractor for medical expenses and lost income resulting from injuries suffered while the independent contractor is performing services pursuant to a contract with a contracting entity or platform in accordance with the following policy requirements:
(1) Coverage for the first to occur of either one million dollars ($1,000,000) in medical expense payments incurred or two years of coverage from the date of accident or injury. This coverage is in excess of the independent contractor’s own medical insurance, if any, for injuries suffered.
(2) A fifty-thousand-dollar ($50,000) death payment resulting from the death of an independent contractor while performing the services.
(3) A one-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar ($150,000) survivor payment resulting from the death of an independent contractor while performing the services.
(4) Disability payments for injuries suffered by an independent contractor while performing the services equal to 66 percent of the independent contractor’s average weekly earnings for the 28-day period prior to the injury for services performed for the contracting entity as of the date of injury, with minimum and maximum weekly payment rates ranging from fifty dollars ($50) to five hundred dollars ($500) per week lasting no longer than two years from the date of injury.
(e) The independent contractor shall be eligible for state disability insurance and paid family leave benefits offered through the California Employment Development Department and State Disability Insurance Program.
(f) The contracting entity or platform shall maintain a written policy against the discrimination of an independent contractor on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, medical condition, genetic information, military status, military or veteran status or any other protected class recognized by California law.
(g) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Contracting entity” means any business entity formed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation, not-for-profit corporation, or any public entity as defined in Section 811.2 of the Government Code, that contracts with independent contractors to provide services to, on behalf of, or through the contracting entity on a freelance or per-gig basis, which services are within the normal course of the contracting entity’s business. Contracting entities do not include marketplace companies that contract with independent contractors in exchange for the independent contractor’s access to and use of a platform.
(2) “Platform” refers to a multisided virtual platform that utilizes software and similar technology, including, but not limited to, websites and mobile applications, that enable third parties, including independent contractors, to transact with one another for services, or through which independent contractors can market, promote, or advertise their services to third parties.
(3) “Premium rate of pay” refers to higher wages paid for hours in excess of eight that the contract expressly requires the independent contractor to work in a day as compared to the regular estimated equivalent hourly rate for eight or fewer hours worked in a day.
(4) “Marketplace company” means any business entity formed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation, not-for-profit corporation, or any public entity as defined in Section 811.2 of the Government Code, that operates as or maintains a platform.
(h) As of April 1, 2021, the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission shall not apply to the independent contractor relationships under this section, except as expressly set forth herein. The Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission shall not apply to work performed on or before March 31, 2021, provided that: (1) the then-effective contract between a contracting entity or a platform, and, an individual or a sole proprietor, substantially complied with subdivision (b); or (2) the equivalent hourly rate earned by an individual or sole proprietor met or exceeded the then-applicable minimum wage for the time necessary to complete the service, excluding commute time.