NLRB New Joint Employer Rule Put On Hold. . . Again – Employee Rights/ Labour Relations

In a move that gave hope to many business groups, a federal
judge in Texas temporarily blocked a controversial new National
Labor Relations Board “joint employer” rule on February
22. The new rule, which had been set to take effect on February 26,
is designed to make it easier for the NLRB to label businesses
joint employers of each other’s workers. The NLRB could the use
that label to hold both businesses responsible for each other’s
unfair labor practices. The prospect of this has been especially
worrisome to businesses that work with franchise and temporary
staffing arrangements, since a franchisor could be responsible for
unfair labor practices committed by a franchisee and a staffing
company could be responsible for unfair labor practices committed
by its client.

Under the NLRB’s new rule “two or more entities may be
considered joint employers of a group of employees if each entity
has an employment relationship with the employees, and if the
entities share or codetermine one or more of the employees’
essential terms and conditions of employment.” The NLRB plans
to apply the rule by examining whether two entities each have
authority to control one or more of the following for an employee
or a group of employees:

1. Wages, benefits, and other compensation;




2. Hours of work and scheduling;




3. The assignment of duties to be performed;




4. The supervision of the performance of duties;




5. Work rules and directions governing the manner, means, and
   methods of the performance of duties and the grounds for
   discipline;




6. The tenure of employment, including hiring and discharge;
   and




7. Working conditions related to the safety and health of
   employees.

The judge’s ruling this week did not permanently block the
new NLRB joint employer rule, and it instead simply put it on hold
until March 11 while the judge considers a lawsuit filed by the US
Chamber of Commerce and other business groups. That lawsuit does
seek to permanently block the new rule, and its fate remains
uncertain. This is the second delay for the new rule, which was
originally set to take effect on December 26. 2023.

The Labor and Employment Practice Group at Frantz
Ward will continue to monitor this situation closely.

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