Los Angeles Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance: Employer Exposure
A business hires a freelance bartender for a $700 company event in downtown Los Angeles, agrees on the rate by text, and pays six weeks later. That arrangement may violate the city’s Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance, which requires a written contract once a freelancer’s work in the city reaches $600 in a calendar year and sets payment deadlines. California’s own freelance statute covers a different set of contracts. Knowing which law applies is the first step in answering a freelancer’s demand.
Which businesses does the Los Angeles ordinance cover?
Almost any business that hires a solo freelancer to work in the city. Los Angeles Municipal Code section 189.101 defines a “Hiring Entity” as “an entity regularly engaged in business or commercial activity,” including a not for profit business. It excludes only entities that hire “app-based transportation and delivery drivers to provide prearranged services.”
The worker side is narrower. A “Freelance Worker” is an individual, or a one-person entity, “hired or engaged as a bona fide independent contractor to perform services for a Hiring Entity in exchange for compensation,” under the same section. It doesn’t include someone who is the hiring entity’s employee under the city’s minimum wage ordinance, someone working for no pay, someone who has employees, or someone who is already required by law to have a written agreement.
Location of the work controls, not the address of either party. Under section 189.102, the ordinance applies to contracts “entered into on or after July 1, 2023” and to “work performed within the City by a Freelance Worker that is entitled to payment of $600 or more in a calendar year for the same Hiring Entity.” The Office of Wage Standards’ rules give an example of a Montebello company and a Long Beach freelancer who are covered because the work happens at an event downtown.
How does it interact with California’s Freelance Worker Protection Act?
The state statute took over part of the field on January 1, 2025. Senate Bill 988 (Stats. 2024, ch. 870) added Business and Professions Code section 18100 and the sections after it, and section 18107 says the act “applies only to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2025.”
The state law covers “professional services,” a term borrowed from the list in Labor Code section 2778(b)(2). That list includes marketing, graphic design, grant writing, photography, freelance writing and editing, and a few other kinds of creative work. The state threshold is lower: section 18101(a) reaches contracts worth “two hundred and fifty dollars ($250)” or more, alone or “when aggregated with all contracts for services between the same hiring party and independent contractor during the immediately preceding 120 days.”
The city has said how the two fit together. According to the Office of Wage Standards rules, published October 20, 2025, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2025, “the City’s Ordinance continues to apply to eligible contracts not otherwise covered by State law.” So a graphic designer working in Los Angeles usually falls under the state act, while a bartender, event setup worker, or freelance handyman doing city work may fall under the ordinance.
What does the written contract have to say?
Both laws list required terms, and they’re similar. Under LAMC section 189.103, a covered contract “must be in writing” and include the parties’ names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses if available, an itemization of all services with their value and “the rate and method of compensation,” and “The date by which the hiring entity must pay the contracted compensation or the manner by which such date will be determined.”
The state version in section 18103 adds two duties. The hiring party “shall furnish a signed copy of the written contract” to the freelancer, and the contract must state the date by which the freelancer submits a list of services to meet internal processing deadlines. A refusal to sign doesn’t erase the deal: texts or emails summarizing “the rate and work to be performed” can be evidence a contract was formed, under the same section.
When is payment due?
On the contract date, or 30 days out if none is set. Section 189.104 requires full payment “on or before the date specified in the written contract or, if the written contract does not specify a due date or if there is no written contract, no later than 30 calendar days after services are rendered.” The state rule in section 18102 runs from “the completion of the freelance worker’s services” and also bars conditioning timely payment on the freelancer accepting less money or handing over extra work or intellectual property rights.
What can a freelancer recover from the business?
More than the unpaid invoice. The comparison is easiest in a table.
| Issue | Los Angeles ordinance | California act |
|---|---|---|
| Who’s covered | Individual or one-person entity doing work in the city (LAMC § 189.101) | Individual or one-person entity providing professional services (Bus. & Prof. Code § 18101) |
| Threshold | $600 in a calendar year from one hiring entity (§ 189.102) | $250, aggregated over the preceding 120 days (§ 18101) |
| Refused written contract | Additional $250 (§ 189.111(A)) | Additional $1,000 (§ 18106(b)(1)) |
| Late or missing payment | Up to twice the unpaid amount (§ 189.111(B)) | Up to twice the unpaid amount (§ 18106(b)(2)) |
| Any other violation | Value of the contract or the work performed, whichever is greater (§ 189.111(C)) | Same measure, in the court’s discretion (§ 18106(b)(3)) |
| Attorney’s fees | Prevailing freelancer recovers fees and costs (§ 189.110) | Prevailing plaintiff recovers fees and costs (§ 18106(b)) |
The ordinance’s damages section uses mandatory language. Section 189.111(B) says the freelancer “shall be awarded damages up to twice the amount that remains unpaid under the contract.” Section 189.110 adds that a prevailing freelancer “shall be entitled to all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.” Fee exposure usually drives these cases, since the underlying invoice is often small.
Can a business be presumed liable for ignoring the city?
Yes, if it doesn’t answer the Office of Wage Standards. A freelancer can complain to the agency or sue directly. When the agency asks the business for information and documents, section 189.109 gives the freelancer “a procedural rebuttable presumption in any subsequent civil action that the Hiring Entity committed the violations alleged” if the business fails to respond “within 20 calendar days.” That’s an avoidable problem, and it’s the one most likely to turn a small invoice dispute into a lost case.
What should a business do when a freelancer says it broke these rules?
- Preserve the records under a litigation hold: the contract or the texts and emails that set the rate, invoices, payment records, and any messages about the work, since both laws require keeping contracts for four years.
- Calendar the 20-day response date on any Office of Wage Standards request, and the response deadline on any summons or demand letter.
- Identify who hired the freelancer, who approved payment, and where the work was physically performed, and make sure no one cuts off future work in a way that could look like retaliation.
- Pull the documents that decide coverage: the scope of services, the contract date, and the total paid to the same freelancer that year.
- Talk to a lawyer before responding, paying a disputed amount, or asking the freelancer to sign anything.
Businesses already facing a claim can read more about employment defense counsel for California businesses and how these disputes are handled.
Freelance worker law questions from Los Angeles businesses
Does a compliant freelance contract prove the worker isn’t an employee?
No. Neither law says that a written freelance contract decides worker status, and the city ordinance excludes people who are employees. Whether a worker is an independent contractor is still governed by California’s classification rules. A contract that labels someone a freelancer won’t help if the business controls the work the way it controls employees’ work.
Can the freelancer waive these rights in the contract?
No. LAMC section 189.106 says a waiver of any provision “shall be deemed contrary to public policy and shall be void and unenforceable,” and Business and Professions Code section 18104 uses almost the same words. A clause giving up the payment deadline or the damages remedy won’t hold. Clear payment terms and a defined payment date are the better protection.
Do these laws apply to an agency or staffing company that supplies the freelancer?
Usually not, if the worker comes through an entity with employees. Both definitions are limited to a single person or a one-person entity, and the city ordinance excludes anyone who has employees other than the owner. A contract with a staffing firm or production company is generally governed by ordinary contract law and the firm’s own obligations to its workers.
Does it matter where our company is located?
For the city ordinance, it’s the work location that counts. The Office of Wage Standards rules say the ordinance doesn’t reach work a Los Angeles company’s freelancer performs at home in another state. The state act applies to a “person or organization in the State of California” that retains a freelancer, under section 18101(b).
If a freelancer is demanding payment, penalties, or fees
If your company has received a demand or lawsuit from a freelancer under the Los Angeles ordinance or the state act, the contract terms, the payment dates, and where the work was performed usually decide how much exposure is real. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents employers defending employment lawsuits and claims through its business litigation practice, including claims involving freelance contracts and late payment. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.
Sources
The Los Angeles ordinance is Los Angeles Municipal Code Chapter XVIII, Article 10, sections 189.101, 189.102, 189.103, 189.104, 189.106, 189.109, 189.110, and 189.111, with the Office of Wage Standards Rules and Procedures Implementing the Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance. The state statutes are Business and Professions Code sections 18100, 18101, 18102, 18103, 18104, 18106, and 18107, and Labor Code section 2778.
This post is general information about California and federal employment law as of November 7, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Employment statutes, regulations, and court decisions change often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.