The Federal Contractor Test Just Loosened. California’s Did Not.

“My new gig app said I was an independent contractor.  I found out later I never actually qualified as one, not in California.”

That’s a version of something I hear often enough that it deserves its own explanation, separate from whatever a hiring app’s terms of service claim.

Here’s what’s actually happening at the federal level.  A proposed rule would roll back the 2024 independent-contractor standard and bring back an older, looser federal test, one that weighs control and profit-or-loss opportunity more heavily and makes it easier to classify a worker as a contractor.

California never used that federal test to begin with.

Under Lab. Code § 2775 et seq., California applies the ABC test: a worker is presumed to be an employee unless the hiring business proves all three of three specific conditions, including that the work performed falls outside the business’s usual course of work.  That third condition is the one that trips up the most employers, and it does not bend just because a federal standard elsewhere gets looser.

So if a company operating in California tells you the classification rules just relaxed, ask which rules.  Federal, maybe.  California’s own test hasn’t moved an inch.

Whether you were actually misclassified depends on what you did, how much control the company had over how you did it, and whether your work was central to the business or genuinely outside it.

Don’t assume a looser federal headline means anything for your California paycheck.

If you’ve been told you’re a contractor and something about it doesn’t sit right, contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation.  The facts determine whether you have a claim — and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces.  It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts — no lawyer can guarantee a result.  Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.  AI may have been used to create this post.  All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.