Photo: Vox Media Photo: K.C. Alfred / TNS

When the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) in September, the intent was to turn contractors into employees with benefits.

For Vox-owned sports blog SB Nation, the result was turning hundreds of California-based contractors into writers looking for work.

"In 2020, we will move California’s team blogs from our established system with hundreds of contractors to a new one run by a team of new SB Nation employees," SB Nation wrote in a blog post Monday.

According to an email obtained by SFGATE from SB Nation Executive Director John Ness, those hundreds of California contractors will be angling for what appear to be just six full-time positions, which will theoretically be tasked with helping run as many as 23 California team sites (Editor's Note: After publication, Vox told SFGATE 20 total full-time positions will go up "in the next few months.")

And if they don't land one of those coveted jobs, according to Ness, they'll be able to work for... free.

"You’ve built a devoted following, and we welcome you to keep writing and participating when (and only when) you want," Ness wrote in the email sent to California contractors. "Your participation, however, would be totally optional and you would not be compensated for your contributions. We’d classify you as a 'Community Insider' on the masthead, and the CMS would remain open to you."

According to multiple sources at SB Nation, this was the first communication from Vox and SB Nation regarding the impact of AB5 on the California team blogs.

"We know this might come as a shock for you if you have not been following the change in the law," Ness wrote.

All of the California team sites will be affected and will share a small number of editorial resources, according to the email, rather than having an entire dedicated staff as they do now, including sites for the Warriors, Giants, Sharks, Cal and Stanford. (The Niners already have a full-time SB Nation hire on board.)

"These employees will take over the day-to-day operation of our California blogs: writing, social media, community management, and most other editorial functions aside from podcasting. We have created a range of new roles to fill these functions, including producers, community editors, and managers," Ness wrote.

As of Tuesday, there's actually only one "community editor" role open, along with openings for a producer, assistant producer, community manager, editorial manager and digital data editor.

"We know this may be a difficult decision," Ness said in the email regarding whether or not writers will decide to write for free.

According to a source at SB Nation, site stipends can pay as little as ~$2,000 a month for an entire staff, which oftentimes includes a half-dozen writers, including a site manager who works up to 25 hours a week.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Vox Media shared the blog post link posted Monday.

Grant Marek is the Editorial Director of SFGATE. Email: grant.marek@sfgate.com | Twitter: @grant_marek.