Reform California and Carl DeMaio are urging state politicians to immediately repeal two bad laws that hurt workers and destroy jobs in our state: the Private Attorney Generals Act (PAGA) and AB 5.
What is AB 5 and How it Hurts Workers
AB 5 prohibits businesses from hiring independent contractors and instead requires them to use employees to do all work. Worse, the state government has launched investigations of businesses who use independent contractors to punish them with a variety of costly enforcement penalties and fines.
AB 5 has cost hundreds of thousands of independent contractors their clients and decimated their ability to earn a living. Horror stories are piling up of out-of-work coaches, musicians, hairstylists, graphic designers, etc.
In addition to putting independent contractors out of business, AB 5 will hit small businesses the hardest since smaller companies tend to outsource some functions and work to independent contractors due to size and scale.
AB 5 is a shameful attempt by Sacramento politicians to impose new employment taxes on every job performed in our state. By converting independent contractors into employees in every company, state politicians can collect higher employment taxes.
In addition AB 5 will allow unions to organize more workers and force them to pay union dues that would automatically be taken out of each employees paycheck. AB 5 also provides shady lawyers an opportunity to shake down small businesses with frivolous lawsuits.
What is PAGA and How it Hurts Workers
The Private Attorney Generals Act (PAGA) permits frivolous lawsuits to be filed against California small businesses by unscrupulous lawyers out to simply shake-down businesses for quick payoffs. What's worse is California politicians are using PAGA to boost unionization across the state by providing special exemptions from PAGA if a business agrees to sign union contracts.
Employees are used in the process and receive almost no benefits. For example, PAGA was used to force Google to make a $1 million settlement for a frivolous lawsuit. California state government got $488,000, the attorney got $330,000, and each employee got just $15. Just $15!
How You Can Help Repeal PAGA and AB 5
Carl DeMaio and Reform California are currently pursuing a three-track strategy to repeal PAGA and AB 5:
