NLRB tightens joint employer rules in major US labor law reversal
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a final revision to the rules governing joint employer status under US labour law. This change reverses a 2023 regulation that had broadened the criteria for determining when two companies share employer responsibilities. The updated rule reinstates stricter standards from a 2020 regulation, aligning with decades of legal precedent.
For roughly 30 years, joint employer status depended on a company's direct, immediate, and routine control over another company's workers. This standard shifted in 2015 when the NLRB's Browning-Ferris Industries decision introduced a looser test, allowing joint employer findings even if control was only potential rather than exercised.
After a change in NLRB membership, a 2020 rule restored the older, stricter standard. It clarified that merely reserving contractual authority over workers was not enough to establish joint employer status. However, another membership shift led to a 2023 regulation that reintroduced a broader test, similar to the Browning-Ferris approach. This 2023 rule was later struck down in court before it took effect.
The latest revision scraps the 2023 regulation entirely. It brings back the 2020 framework, which requires proof of actual, direct control over essential employment terms. The NLRA itself mandates good-faith bargaining and prohibits unfair labour practices, but joint employer status determines which companies share those obligations.
The new rule tightens the criteria for joint employer status, requiring clear evidence of direct control. This reverses the broader 2023 standard and returns to the stricter 2020 test. The change affects how businesses may be held accountable under labour law when sharing oversight of workers.
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