Labor Nominee Not Endorsing AB5 As Federal Law

The administration’s nominee for Labor Secretary says she would not seek to federalize California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) if she’s confirmed. 

Julie Su faced several questions about the topic from the House Education and Workforce Committee during a June 7 hearing. Su is the acting Labor Secretary and previously served as California’s labor secretary.  

When asked specifically if she would “demand Congress pass a bill similar to AB5” if she’s confirmed as labor secretary, Su said she would not. 

California’s AB5 makes it harder to classify workers as independent contractors by codifying a three-prong test to determine a worker’s status. 

“AB5 is not federal law,” Su said. “It would only be federal law if Congress decides that it should be. I have not called for that at the federal level.”  

“In fact, I have explicitly, during my tenure as deputy secretary of labor, when we created the proposed rule about independent contractors, I explicitly said we do not adopt an ABC test and in fact, we cannot adopt an ABC test,” she continued. 

Su later noted that she thinks “bona fide independent contractors will always have a place in our economy."