California Labor Code

California's test for who counts as an employee comes from Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v.

Superior Court two thousand eighteen, which the legislature codified the following year at Labor Code Section 2775.

That test presumes every worker is an employee unless the hiring company proves the worker is free from its control, performs work outside the company's usual business, and runs an independently established trade of the same kind.

Voters carved app-based rideshare and delivery drivers out of that test in November two thousand twenty through Proposition 22, and the California Supreme Court upheld the carve-out as constitutional in Castellanos v.

Detailed findings, what the Lyft settlement actually covers.

The California Labor Commissioner's Office filed the underlying action against Lyft in August two thousand twenty, years before the October one, two thousand twenty-six, settlement announcement.

The complaint covered the period from April sixth, two thousand sixteen, through December fifteen, two thousand twenty, and alleged that Lyft's independent contractor classification denied drivers minimum wage and overtime under the Labor Code, rest and meal break premiums, reimbursement of vehicle and mileage expenses under Labor Code Section 2802, accurate itemized wage statements, timely payment of wages on separation, and paid sick leave.

The case proceeded alongside coordinated claims brought by the California Attorney General and the city attorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, plus private claims filed under the Private Attorneys General Act, Labor Code Section 2698 and following.