Do you hire other companies to complete jobs in your workplace? Did you realize that you could be liable for labor violations that the company commits while working there? There are two pending and one recently decided case that will alter how franchisees, general and sub-contractors, and other companies operate. These cases will impact whether employers are responsible as joint employers for violations that other companies may commit. Moreover, in June 2017, the United States Department of Labor (DOL), under newly-appointed Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, withdrew its informal guidance that broadened liability for joint employment, and demonstrated a willingness to follow a more business-friendly approach to joint-employer liability.
One of the decisions that’ll have the greatest impact on joint employer liability is the appeal of the 2015 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., which upended a decades-old standard.