The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, of which NATSO is a member, urged Congress to quickly pass the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act (S. 2015/H.R. 3549), which would restore the longstanding joint employer standard under the National Labor Relations Act.
In a letter praising Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and John Isakson (R-Ga.) and Congressmen John Kline (R-Minn.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) for introducing the legislation, the coalition said the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to redefine and expand joint employer liability under the NLRA threatens to disrupt hundreds of thousands of business relationships to the detriment of entrepreneurs, other small businesses and their employers.
NATSO members are invited to join a webinar Monday Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. EDT during which Maury Baskin, a shareholder with Littler Mendelson, will discuss the NLRB's New Joint Employer Standard and the Potential Impact. Participants may register here.
The NLRB in August issued a decision in its case against Browing-Ferris Industries (BFI) overturning the 30-year-old joint employer standard for determining when one company is labile for the labor practices of another separate company under the NLRA.
NLRB said it now will impose joint employer liability where an entity has “indirect” control and “unexercised potential” of control over another entity’s employees. Prior to the ruling, two separate entities were considered joint employers when they both exercised “direct and immediate” control over “essential terms and conditions of employment.”
Broadening this standard exposes companies to more legal liability for how their subcontractors, staffing agencies and franchisees treat their employees. The ruling also makes businesses more susceptible to workforce unionization by imposing new collective bargaining obligations and allowing unions the ability to strike or picket a large entity compared to the individual location where there is a dispute.
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