There was a very important California Supreme Court ruling last year regarding the definition of an Independent Contractor (IC). In April 2018, it adopted a rigid “ABC” test for determining whether or not an individual qualifies as an Independent Contractor or, in fact, is an employee. In order to qualify as an Independent Contractor, the individual must:
A. Be free from the control/direction of hiring entity with respect to the work performed, per contract and in fact; AND
B. Perform work that is outside the usual course of hiring entity’s business; AND
C. Is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of same nature as work performed for the hiring entity.
While A and C have long been requirements for an Independent Contractor, B is new and may be the most difficult to meet.