Update On NLRB Joint Employer Standard – Board Will Engage In Rule Making

Volume 17, Issue 12
June 18, 2018

In December 2017 we celebrated the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB or Board) decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd., which overturned the unfavorable joint employer standard adopted by the Obama Board in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc. and returned Board law to the joint employer standard previously used for decades. In February 2018, however, the Board vacated Hy-Brand after the Designated Agency Ethics Official determined that one Board member should have been disqualified from participating in the decision.

The Board has recently indicated that it intends to address the joint employer standard through rulemaking. In a June 5, 2018 letter, NLRB Chairman John Ring explains that the Board is working toward issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking “as soon as possible, but certainly by this summer.” He explains that a majority of the Board believes that “rulemaking offers the best vehicle to fully consider all views on what the joint employer standard ought to be.” Once the Board issues its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, it will permit a period for the public to comment on this important issue.

We will continue to keep you posted on this development.

KZA Employer Report articles are for general information only; they are not intended and should not be construed to be legal advice. Reading or replying to such articles does not establish an attorney-client relationship. In addition, because the subject matters and applicable laws discussed in Employer Report articles are often in a state of change and not always applicable to every type of business entity or organization, readers should consult with counsel before making decisions based on the same.