On February 25, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a new joint-employer rule to be effective April 27, 2020. A joint-employer relationship is defined as the sharing of control and supervision of an employee’s activity among two or more business entities. Within the new rule, the NLRB announced that it will adopt the criteria set forth by the Department of Labor (DOL) earlier this year as mentioned in the prior article “DOL Adopts New Joint Employer Determination Test,” and abide by the following guidelines to determine if the joint rule applies:
- Hires or fires an employee;
- Supervises and controls an employee’s work schedule or conditions of employment to a substantial degree;
- Determines the employee’s rate and method of payment; and
- Maintains the employee’s employment records.
If an employer meets each of the above noted criteria, then they meet the definition of a joint-employer.
Employers seeking to qualify as a joint-employer or current joint-employers looking to avoid violations of the new rules, are encouraged to become familiar with the NLRB’s guidelines and evaluate the current status of their employment arrangements to ensure they meet the definition of a joint-employer prior to the noted effective date.
Contact your Cowden representative for more information on this or other compliance issues.