The supply chain issues in the construction industry show no signs of slowing down, and activity coming out of California may make it worse, warns Trent Cotney, partner at Adams and Reese.
In this Legal Insights podcast, Cotney addresses California's Assembly Bill 5, which changes rules on how to determine if a worker is an independent contractor versus an employee. This will turn workers, including truckers, who are normally considered independent contractors in other states into employees in California. With more than 350,000 truck drivers working as independent contractors, this could slow down transportation of goods from California, where most sea freights enter the country.
"Anytime you're messing with trucking you potentially impact the supply chain," he said. "I don't think we really need to be doing that right now."
Cotney also touches on the impact sectoral bargaining could have on the construction industry, then heads south to Florida to talk about the licensing issues contractors are facing when helping the state recover from Hurricane Ian.
Listen to the podcast here, or download it to listen on the go from our Spotify and Apple Podcasts pages.