New Labor Board Joint Employer Test Replaces Trump-era Rule (1)

The National Labor Relations Board has made it easier for multiple companies to qualify as joint employers that share liability for labor law violations and legal obligations to negotiate with unions under a new final rule.

Franchisors and companies that rely on workers obtained via staffing firms and other business-to-business arrangements have the most at stake under the rule issued Thursday by the NLRB’s Democratic majority.

In the franchising industry, for example, a national fast-food behemoth could be required to negotiate with a union at an independently owned franchise location if the NLRB decided they both jointly employed the unionized ...