NLRB Democrats Unveil New Rule Expanding Joint Employer Liability…Again

Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board have put forward a new rule expanding “joint employer” liability for businesses nationwide. CEI labor policy expert Sean Higgins says this once again introduces confusion over when the liability will be triggered.

Statement by Sean Higgins, CEI Research Fellow:

“The National Labor Relations Board has proposed a new version of the ‘joint employer’ rule, which establishes when one business is legally responsible for violations at another business. Once again, the board’s Democratic members are arguing that this should go beyond cases where one business has ‘direct control’ over another – the current standard – and extend to include cases of ‘indirect control,’ as well. 

“This will run afoul of the same problem that happened when the board tried to enact this rule during the Obama years: indirect control is a term of art with no clear definition. Adopting it as a standard runs contrary to whole point of a federal rule, while is to provide clarity about the government’s regulations.”

Public comments on the proposed rule are due to the NLRB by November 7, 2022.
Related analysis: Federal Agency Tries to Extend Reach with Joint Employer Standard