NACS Offers Analysis of Labor Department’s Guidance on Joint Employers

Interpretation may facilitate enforcement actions for labor violations tied to temporary and contract workers.

February 02, 2016

WASHINGTON – As previously reported in NACS Daily, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued an interpretation of joint employment that identifies scenarios in which two or more companies jointly employ a worker and are therefore jointly liable for labor violations.

The DOL’s interpretation of a joint employer will have a much wider impact than the earlier National Labor Relations Board standard issued last year, which now makes more businesses subject to obligations and liability under the National Labor Relations Act—particularly franchises. In fact, Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil noted that DOL’s guidance was issued in part to dispel the “misconception” that joint employment only deals with franchise relationships. DOL’s interpretation may instigate legal actions for unpaid overtime or other labor violations.

NACS counsel has prepared a members-only memorandum analyzing the guidance.

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