NLRB issues proposed rule on joint employer standard

Robert Cresanti, President and CEO of the IFA notes: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last week issued its proposed rule on the joint employer standard. This is a major step toward resolving the top policy issue for franchise businesses.

Under the proposed rule, an employer may be found to be a joint employer of another employer’s employees only if it possesses and exercises substantial, direct and immediate control. The proposed rule would effectively reverse the much broader and vague definition set by the NLRB in 2015, when it changed the joint employer standard to include indirect or potential, unexercised control. This is a significant action and a very important achievement stemming from our advocacy efforts to address the top concern of the franchise community for the past several years, but the work is not yet done.

The NLRB has announced a 60-day public comment period, allowing the public to support the rule and push for its enactment. I am asking our entire membership to engage in support of this rulemaking. IFA has created an online portal to facilitate this process.

We are hopeful the final rule will provide clear lines for the determination of joint-employer status and a recognition that brand controls and other support provided as part of the franchise business model do not constitute factors that can be used to find joint employment between franchisors and franchisees. Your support is critical to that goal.

If your business, brand, or franchisee association would like to submit comments specific to your company, please contact IFA’s Caleb Gunnels atcgunnels@franchise.org. Specific and concrete examples are invaluable as the IFA works to stress the importance of this rulemaking to policymakers.

Your support is critical to our shared goal of a clear and common-sense joint employer standard. I encourage you to submit comments and share this email with others in your brand.