Labor Board to Review Controversial Joint-Employer Rule

Late last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a request for comments on overhauling the current “joint-employer” scheme, aiming to recognize a less stringent application. The current joint-employer rule stems from an Obama Administration NLRB ruling in a case known as Browning-Ferris, which more closely ties infractions of franchisees to their franchisors. While the current Trump Administration’s NLRB had attempted to overturn Browning-Ferris late last year in a case dubbed Hy-Brand, the NLRB Inspector General earlier this year issued a report noting that NLRB member William J. Emanuel, a Trump Administration appointee, handled related cases at his previous law firm and therefore should have recused himself from the Hy-Brand decision. That development subsequently moved the other Board members to withdraw the ruling in Hy-Brand which overturned the Browning-Ferris ruling; thus reinstating the more stringent Browning-Ferris joint-employer standard.

Last week’s proposal attempts to reignite a circumvention of the Browning-Ferris ruling in favor of loosening the requirements for what constitutes a joint-employer. NRMCA has advocated ardently against the Browning-Ferris ruling and will continue to do so until the pre-Browning-Ferris joint-employer standard is reinstated. Click here to review the proposal. The NLRB will be accepting comments on the proposal through November 13, 2018.

For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.