Press Releases

A bicameral comment letter, spearheaded in the House by Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC), was sent yesterday to National Labor Relations Board (“the Board” or NLRB) Chairman Lauren McFerran to oppose the Biden administration’s proposed joint employer rule which would jeopardize businesses across the country. 

In the letter, Foxx and the Members write: “In 2020, the Board issued a final rule under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that provided clarity on when a business is considered a joint employer. Under the 2020 rule, ‘a business must possess and exercise substantial direct and immediate control over one or more essential terms and conditions of employment of another employer’s employees’ to be considered a joint employer. The rule included definitions of key terms to create additional stability and certainty. This standard was celebrated by much of the business community for being straightforward and clear.” 

The Members continue: “By proposing a rule that goes far beyond the common law, the Board is overstepping its legal authority. Such an authority is reserved to Congress. Further, the Board’s joint-employer proposed rule would have immediate and long-term negative effects on millions of workers and thousands of businesses at a time when the economy is already facing the highest inflation rates in four decades. Franchises in particular would be negatively impacted should the proposed rule go into effect.”  

The Members conclude: “By moving forward with this misguided proposed rule, the Board would overwhelmingly hurt entrepreneurs who are utilizing the franchise model to own their own business. Many of these entrepreneurs are women, minorities, and veterans, thirty-two percent of whom say that they would not own a business without franchising. … Due to this negative economic impact, the proposed rule’s inconsistency with common law, and the NLRB’s attempt to use powers reserved to Congress, we urge the Board not to move forward with its proposed rule for determining joint-employer status.”

Read the full letter here.