The National Labor Relations Board has announced that it will publish a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” in the Federal Register regarding its joint-employer standard. The notice will be published on Friday, September 14. The proposed rule will adopt the pre-Browning-Ferris standard for determining if two or more employers are joint employers of employees.
The “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” dated September 14, “provides that 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 over the essential terms and conditions of employment and has done so in a manner that is not limited and routine. Indirect influence and contractual reservations of authority would no longer be sufficient to establish a joint-employer relationship.”
Board Chairman John F. Ring and Board Members Marvin E. Kaplan and William J. Emanuel formed the majority in favor of the rule. Board member Lauren McFerran dissented. Ring, Kaplan, and Emanuel were appointed to the NLRB by President Donald Trump; McFerran is an Obama appointee.
A 60-day period for commenting on the proposed rule begins on September 14 and ends on November 13. Comments may be submitted electronically to www.regulations.gov or by mail or hand-delivery.
