New York Partner Richard Reibstein Quoted by Business Insurance on Proposition 22 and Independent Contractors Preferring Work Arrangements to Traditional Employment

Richard Reibstein, a Partner in Locke Lord's Labor and Employment Practice in New York and co-head of the Firm's Independent Contractor Misclassification and Compliance Practice, was quoted in a Business Insurance article discussing the passing of Proposition 22 in California, a ballot initiative that carves out app-based drivers from a restrictive test for independent contractor status that may have required ride-sharing and delivery companies to treat as employees freelancers who choose to provide driving and delivery services to the customers of such companies. The California ballot victory may lead such companies to expand the initiative in California into other states.

In response to commentators and legislators who oppose any extension of the California ballot initiative and support an extension of the strict California test for independent contractor status into other states, Reibstein referenced two government studies that he says have been overlooked: a 2015 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and a 2018 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both of which indicated independent contractors preferred their work arrangements to traditional employment. “Many legislatures and politicians seem to overlook this key stakeholder, the freelancers themselves,” he said.

To read the full article, click here.