CA SB 809

enacted

Employees and independent contractors: construction trucking.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper

Description

(1) Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for those purposes. Existing law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. This test is commonly known as the "ABC" test, as described above. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of Dynamex and the provisions described above. This bill would provide that mere ownership of a vehicle, including a personal vehicle or a commercial vehicle, used by a person in providing labor or services for remuneration does not make that person an independent contractor. The bill would state that this provision is declarative of existing law. (2) Existing law establishes the Motor Carrier Employer Amnesty Program administered by the Labor Commissioner and the Employment Development Department. Pursuant to the program, notwithstanding any law, a motor carrier performing drayage services may be relieved of liability for statutory or civil penalties associated with the misclassification of commercial drivers as independent contractors if the motor carrier enters into a settlement agreement with the commissioner, with the cooperation and consent of the department, prior to January 1, 2017, whereby the motor carrier agrees to classify all of its commercial drivers as employees, and the settlement agreement contains prescribed components, including, but not limited to, an agreement by the motor carrier to pay all wages, benefits, and taxes owed, if any. This bill would establish a similar program, known as the Construction Trucking Employer Amnesty Program, to be administered by the commissioner and the department. Under the bill, an eligible construction contractor would be relieved of liability for statutory or civil penalties, except as provided, associated with the misclassification of construction drivers as independent contractors, if the eligible construction contractor executes a settlement agreement negotiated with, or approved by, the commissioner prior to January 1, 2029, whereby the eligible construction contractor agrees to properly classify all drivers performing construction work on their behalf as employees and the settlement agreement contains prescribed components, including, but not limited to, an agreement by the construction contractor to pay all wages, benefits, and taxes owed, if any. If a construction driver declines to accept the terms of a settlement agreement, the bill would still require an eligible construction contractor to reclassify the construction driver as an employee and the construction driver would be precluded from pursuing a claim for civil or statutory penalties under specified provisions of law for a claim arising during the period of time covered by the settlement agreement. (3) Existing law requires an employer to indemnify their employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of their duties, or of their obedience to the directions of the employer, as provided. This bill would provide that the duty of an employer to indemnify their employee for all necessary expenses or losses applies to the use of a vehicle owned by an employee and used by that employee in the discharge of their duties. The bill would provide that, with respect to construction trucking, a commercial motor vehicle driver who owns the truck, tractor, trailer, or other commercial vehicle that they use in the discharge of their duties as an employee working for an employer would be entitled to reimbursement for the use, upkeep, and depreciation of that truck, tractor, trailer, or other commercial vehicle, as provided. The bill would state that specified provisions described above are declarative of existing law.

Introduced: 2025-02-21
Status date: —
Latest action: 2025-10-11 — Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 659, Statutes of 2025.
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Subjects

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

2025-02-21
Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
introduction,referral-committee
2025-02-24
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 24.
2025-02-24
Read first time.
reading-1
2025-03-12
Referred to Coms. on L., P.E. & R. and JUD.
referral-committee
2025-03-26
Set for hearing April 9.
2025-03-28
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-04-09
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 739.) (April 9). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-04-09
Set for hearing April 22.
2025-04-23
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 1. Page 838.) (April 22).
amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-04-24
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-04-29
Set for hearing May 5.
2025-04-29
May 5 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author.
2025-05-02
Set for hearing May 12.
2025-05-06
May 12 hearing postponed by committee.
2025-05-09
Set for hearing May 19.
2025-05-19
May 19 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-20
Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-23
From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1214.) (May 23).
amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-05-23
Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2
2025-05-27
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
reading-1,reading-2,reading-3
2025-05-29
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 10. Page 1339.) Ordered to the Assembly.
passage,reading-1,reading-3
2025-05-29
In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
reading-1
2025-06-05
Referred to Coms. on L. & E. and JUD.
referral-committee
2025-07-10
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (July 9). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-07-10
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-07-16
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 3.) (July 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-08-20
August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-08-29
From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (August 29).
amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-09-02
Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2
2025-09-03
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
reading-1,reading-2,reading-3
2025-09-12
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 63. Noes 12. Page 3405.) Ordered to the Senate.
passage,reading-1,reading-3
2025-09-12
In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2025-09-13
Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 29. Noes 8. Page 3028.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-09-23
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
executive-receipt
2025-10-11
Approved by the Governor.
executive-signature
2025-10-11
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 659, Statutes of 2025.
became-law

Versions

02/21/25 - Introduced — 2025-02-21Compare
03/28/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-03-28Compare
04/24/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-04-24Compare
05/23/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-05-23Compare
07/10/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-07-10Compare
09/02/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-09-02Compare
09/18/25 - Enrolled — 2025-09-18Compare
10/11/25 - Chaptered — 2025-10-11Compare
SB809Compare
(document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary]
2025-04-09 · pass · 4-1
Member-level votes (5)
- Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
- Laird: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Cortese: yes
- Strickland: no
Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2025-04-22 · pass · 12-1
Member-level votes (13)
- Allen: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Laird: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Stern: yes
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Valladares: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Niello: no
Placed on suspense file
2025-05-19 · pass · 5-0
Member-level votes (7)
- Wahab: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Seyarto: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Cabaldon: other
- Dahle: other
Do pass as amended
2025-05-23 · pass · 5-1
Member-level votes (7)
- Caballero: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Seyarto: no
- Dahle: other
3rd Reading
2025-05-29 · pass · 28-10
Member-level votes (40)
- Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Rubio: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Stern: yes
- Padilla: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Pérez: yes
- McNerney: yes
- Gonzalez: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Cortese: yes
- Archuleta: yes
- Laird: yes
- Blakespear: yes
- McGuire: yes
- Allen: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Hurtado: yes
- Cervantes: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Menjivar: yes
- Becker: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- Strickland: no
- Choi: no
- Grove: no
- Dahle: no
- Valladares: no
- Seyarto: no
- Niello: no
- Jones: no
- Alvarado-Gil: no
- Ochoa Bogh: no
- Limón: other
- Reyes: other
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary]
2025-07-09 · pass · 6-0
Member-level votes (7)
- Kalra: yes
- Ortega: yes
- Ward: yes
- Elhawary: yes
- Lee: yes
- Chen: yes
- Flora: other
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2025-07-15 · pass · 9-3
Member-level votes (12)
- Stefani: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Bauer-Kahan: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Papan: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Zbur: yes
- Dixon: no
- Sanchez: no
- Macedo: no
Do pass as amended.
2025-08-29 · pass · 11-3
Member-level votes (15)
- Elhawary: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Fong: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Arambula: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Ahrens: yes
- Solache: yes
- Sanchez: no
- Tangipa: no
- Dixon: no
- Ta: other
Unfinished Business SB809 Durazo et al. Concurrence
2025-09-13 · pass · 29-8
Member-level votes (40)
- Richardson: yes
- Menjivar: yes
- Pérez: yes
- Stern: yes
- Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Limón: yes
- Padilla: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Cortese: yes
- Reyes: yes
- Hurtado: yes
- Becker: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Allen: yes
- Laird: yes
- Weber Pierson: yes
- McGuire: yes
- McNerney: yes
- Archuleta: yes
- Blakespear: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Cervantes: yes
- Rubio: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Niello: no
- Strickland: no
- Seyarto: no
- Jones: no
- Dahle: no
- Ochoa Bogh: no
- Alvarado-Gil: no
- Grove: no
- Gonzalez: other
- Valladares: other
- Choi: other
SB 809 Durazo Senate Third Reading By Ramos
2025-09-13 · pass · 63-12
Member-level votes (80)
- Ahrens: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Quirk-Silva: yes
- Gipson: yes
- Rogers: yes
- Addis: yes
- Ward: yes
- Haney: yes
- Hart: yes
- Fong: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Elhawary: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Carrillo: yes
- Bains: yes
- Ransom: yes
- Soria: yes
- Michelle Rodriguez: yes
- Berman: yes
- Valencia: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Celeste Rodriguez: yes
- Arambula: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Schultz: yes
- Bauer-Kahan: yes
- Bennett: yes
- Papan: yes
- Schiavo: yes
- Bonta: yes
- Ávila Farías: yes
- Aguiar-Curry: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Boerner: yes
- Alvarez: yes
- Lee: yes
- Alanis: yes
- Wallis: yes
- Stefani: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Sharp-Collins: yes
- Nguyen: yes
- Ortega: yes
- Solache: yes
- Lowenthal: yes
- Blanca Rubio: yes
- Jackson: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Petrie-Norris: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Gabriel: yes
- Zbur: yes
- Davies: yes
- McKinnor: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Muratsuchi: yes
- Krell: yes
- Ramos: yes
- Patel: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Rivas: yes
- Chen: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Johnson: no
- Dixon: no
- Hoover: no
- Hadwick: no
- Tangipa: no
- Macedo: no
- Gallagher: no
- Jeff Gonzalez: no
- Sanchez: no
- Ellis: no
- Patterson: no
- DeMaio: no
- Irwin: other
- Lackey: other
- Castillo: other
- Flora: other
- Ta: other

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB809

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