Posts tagged subcontractors
NLRB’S RADICAL JOINT EMPLOYER STANDARD WILL DESTROY SMALL BUSINESS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
October 11, 2022 // The NLRB is pursuing a new joint employer rulemaking that has the potential to destroy small businesses, the American Dream, and the economy. Under this expanded standard, nearly every contractual relationship between businesses will trigger joint employer status, making businesses responsible and liable for the employment practices of their franchisees, suppliers, vendors, contractors, and subcontractors. Under this new rule, businesses will be forced to protect themselves against significantly more liability and obligations under the law. The franchise business model, for example, would be gutted, as the larger franchisor will move to end or limit their support to franchisees or exert increased authority over them, essentially turning those small business owners into employees. The new standard would also force larger companies to subsume local small businesses rather than work with individually owned enterprises, stifling entrepreneurship, business innovation, and flexibility. The expanded standard even hampers businesses’ efforts to encourage “corporate responsibility” among their business partners to the detriment of workers, consumers, and their communities.