Published
December 15, 2017
Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed its deeply-flawed 2015 Browning-Ferris decision (BFI) that held that two employers can be found to be joint employers if they have indirect or even potential control of the same employees. The BFI decision upended decades of precedent and stability, and undermined small business growth.
In yesterday’s 3-2 decision, the NLRB overturned BFIand found that two employers can only be found to be joint employers if they exercise direct and immediate control over the same employees.
The decision is a victory for common sense, since BFIhad made employers liable for workplaces they didn’t control and workers they didn’t employ.
The decision comes just prior to the departure of NLRB Chairman Phil Miscimarra, whose term at the agency ends tomorrow. Once Miscimarra is no longer on the Board, it will revert to a 2-2 partisan split. Tradition dictates that the agency does not make significant policy changes without a full five-member staff.
Read news coverage of yesterday’s decision here:
About the authors
Glenn Spencer
Spencer oversees the Chamber’s work on immigration, retirement security, traditional labor relations, human trafficking, wage hour and worker safety issues, EEOC matters, and state labor and employment law.
