SB527 - Worker classification: employees and independent contractors: athletic coaches.

Amended IN Senate January 05, 2026 Amended IN Senate April 07, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 527 Introduced by Senator Alvarado-Gil (Coauthors: Senators Choi, Jones, Ochoa Bogh, and Seyarto) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Macedo and Wallis) February 20, 2025 An act to add Section 2784.5 to the Labor Code, relating to employment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 527, as amended, Alvarado-Gil. Worker classification: employees and independent contractors: athletic coaches. 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 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 the ABC test described above. Existing law, instead, provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously adopted in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d. This bill would extend the above-specified exemption to a sports coach for an elementary or secondary private school or local education educational agency, as prescribed, and would define terms, including “sports coach,” for these purposes. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 2784.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read: 2784.5. (a) Section 2775 and the holding in Dynamex do not apply to the relationship between a sports coach and an elementary or secondary private school or local educational agency if the sports coach position meets all of the conditions described in subdivision (b) and the sports coach does not perform any additional services for the elementary or secondary private school or local educational agency beyond coaching athletic programs. Instead, the determination of employee or independent contractor status for the sports coach shall be governed by Borello. (b) This section shall only apply to a sports coach position that meets all of the following conditions: (1) (A) The position for the sports coach was initially made available to existing credentialed teachers and other educational staff only, and no person meeting either of those criteria accepted the position. (B) If the position is for a head sports coach, the position was initially made available to existing credentialed teachers only, and no person meeting that criterion accepted the position. (2) If the position for the sports coach or head sports coach was not accepted as described in paragraph (1), the position was then made available to the general public and meets all of the following requirements: (A) The position is either on a volunteer basis or by stipend. (B) The position is for the purposes of a specified sport during a specified season. (C) There is no further obligation for employment, wages, or benefits. (b) (c) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Local educational agency” means any school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school. (2) “Sports coach” means any natural person on a volunteer basis for, or paid by by, a private school or local educational agency to coach an athletic program.