NLRB announces final rule defining joint-employer status

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced Feb. 25 that it will issue its final rule governing joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act on Feb. 26. The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) wrote in a statement that it appreciates NLRB’s recognition that the current standard lacks the clarity and consistency that businesses require in order to comply.

The final rule, which goes into effect April 27, 2020, restores NLRB’s long-held joint-employer standard that was in place prior to the 2015 Browning-Ferris decision. The NWRA says the new rule entails even greater precision, clarity and detail satisfying the organization’s request in its November 2018 comments on the proposed rule to provide clear guidance for the industry.

Important to NWRA’s members, among other things, is the Browning-Ferris decision had put users of contractors at risk of a joint-employer finding if they required their contractors’ workers to follow safety rules generally applicable to anyone on the premises, regardless of their employment status.

“Safety is the top concern for NWRA and our members.  We want every single member of our industry to make it home each day safely. We believe that a clear delineation of employer responsibility as the NLRB sets forth in this new rule will help ensure a safer workplace. The previous blanket assumption of joint-employer status could result in confusing and conflicting directives that make employees less, not more, safe,” NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith says.

Full details on the new rule can be found online.