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California Independent Contractor Misclassification Calculator (2026)

 

Am I misclassified as an independent contractor? California 1099 Test

If a company pays you as a 1099 independent contractor and denies you employee protections, this tool screens California’s classification tests — the ABC test, and for certain jobs the Borello test — to see whether you may really be an employee who is owed wages. Under California law you are presumed an employee; the company must prove otherwise.

Start here

Does the company that pays you treat you as an independent contractor (1099) rather than a W-2 employee?

Your work
One more question

App-based driver — a few questions

Under Proposition 22 you count as a contractor only if the company does not control these things. Answer about how it actually works.

Does the company set your hours or require you to be available during set times?

Does the company require you to accept specific ride or delivery requests?

Does the company stop you from working for competing apps?

Does the company stop you from working in other lawful jobs or businesses?

The ABC test

The company can treat you as a contractor only if all three are true. Any “No” points to employee.

(A) Are you genuinely free from the company’s control over how you do the work — setting your own methods and schedule, not supervised or directed like an employee — both in your contract and in actual day-to-day practice?

What counts as control (optional)

Signs of control: set hours or shifts; required methods or scripts; supervision, reporting, or check-ins; training you in their way; the right to fire you at will. The more of these apply, the more you look like an employee.

(B) Is your work outside the company’s usual business? (A plumber fixing a law firm’s sink is outside; a driver for a delivery company, a cook for a restaurant, or a stylist for a salon is doing the company’s core work.)

Why this prong matters (optional)

This is the prong most misclassified workers fail. If the service you provide is the same service the company sells to its customers, your work is inside its usual course of business — and you are likely an employee.

(C) Do you run your own independently established business of this kind — advertising, multiple clients, your own tools or license, an LLC or DBA — that would exist even without this company?

What counts as your own business (optional)

Signs of a real independent business: you advertise and take clients other than this company; you have a business license, incorporation, or DBA; you invest in your own equipment; you can profit or lose based on how you run it. Merely being labeled a “contractor” does not count.

The Borello test

For your occupation, California weighs several factors together — above all, who controls how the work is done. Answer honestly; no single factor decides it.

Does the company control the manner and means of your work — how, when, and where you do it; supervising or directing you; setting your hours; and able to fire you at will?

Do you operate your own distinct business — own name or license, advertising, and several clients?

Do you supply your own tools, equipment, and workplace?

Are you paid by the job or project rather than by the hour or a regular wage?

Is your work part of the company’s regular business?

Is the relationship ongoing and open-ended rather than a one-off project?

Can you earn more profit or take a loss based on your own managerial skill and investment?

California Independent Contractor Misclassification (2026)

If a company pays you on a 1099 and calls you an “independent contractor,” it may be getting the law wrong. Misclassification is one of the most common -- and most expensive -- wage violations in California. An independent contractor who should be an employee is typically owed overtime, meal and rest break premiums, expense and mileage reimbursement, sick pay, and more. The label on your agreement or invoice does not decide the question. The facts of your work do. Under California law, it is the company that has the burden of proving you are really an independent contractor, not you.

The ABC test: you’re presumed an employee

Since the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision and Assembly Bill 5 (now Labor Code §2775), California uses the so-called ABC test which presumes that you are an employee unless the hiring business proves all three of these:

  • A - Control. You are free from the company’s control over how you do the work. You set your own methods and schedule and aren’t supervised or directed like an employee.
  • B - Outside the usual business. Your work is outside the company’s usual course of business. A plumber who fixes a law firm’s sink is outside it; a driver for a delivery company, a cook for a restaurant, or a stylist for a salon is doing the company’s core work.
  • C - Independent business. You are running your own independently established business of that kind: advertising, multiple clients, your own tools or license, an LLC or DBA.

If the company fails even one prong, you may be deemed an employee under the ABC test. Prong B is the one most misclassified workers win: if you provide the very service the company sells to its customers, you are very likely an employee, no matter what your contract says.

Some jobs use a different test

AB5 and AB2257 carve out a long list of occupations for which the older, multi-factor Borello test applies, not the employee-friendly ABC test. For example, licensed professionals (doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, accountants), many “professional services” (marketing, graphic design, freelance writing and photography, licensed cosmetology), bona fide business-to-business contractors, construction subcontractors, and referral-agency providers. The Borello test centers on who controls the manner and means of the work, so a worker in one of these fields can still be an employee. The analysis is just more complicated.

App-based drivers: Proposition 22

If you drive for a rideshare or delivery app (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart), Proposition 22 generally classifies you as an independent contractor with very few guaranteed benefits. You would not enjoy the benefits of the ABC test, or the full employee protections of the Labor Code. Whether Prop 22 is being applied to you correctly may still be worth checking out.

What misclassification costs you

If you are a misclassified employee, you may be owed:

  • Unpaid minimum wage, regular and overtime wages (1.5× and 2×);
  • Missed meal and rest break premiums;
  • Business-expense reimbursement: mileage, phone, tools, and supplies (Labor Code §2802);
  • Paid sick leave, and workers’-compensation and unemployment coverage; and
  • Wage-statement penalties, waiting-time penalties, interest and other penalties.

If you use your own vehicle for the work, owning it does not make you a contractor, and an employee must be reimbursed for that use (Labor Code §§2802, 2802.2).

Check your status

Our California Independent Contractor Calculator above walks you through the ABC test (and, for certain jobs, the Borello factors) in a couple of minutes and tells you whether you may be misclassified.

If it looks like you might be, talk to an experienced California labor attorney before acting. Call (213) 992-3299 for a free, confidential consultation -- se habla español -- and consider building a GPS-stamped record of the hours you actually work with the WageCop app.

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