“Uber Bill” to Regulate Ride-Sharing Services Companies Advances in State Assembly

A bill to regulate ride-sharing service companies (known as “transportation network companies”), such as Uber and Lyft, is making its way through the state legislature (A3765/S2742). Earlier versions of the bill clearly stated that drivers providing services on behalf of such transportation network companies would not be considered employees, consistent with the position of the companies that drivers are independent contractors. On March 19, 2015, however, an Assembly panel advanced an amended version of the bill providing that drivers will be considered employees for purposes of the state’s wage and hour, unemployment, and other laws unless they satisfy all three factors of the “ABC Test,” which has long been used to determine employment status in unemployment cases. The language of the newly proposed test differs slightly from that contained in the well-established “ABC Test,” however, because it contains no presumption that the drivers are employees.