On April 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule to clarify joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The proposed rule would establish a single, nationwide standard for determining when two or more employers are jointly responsible for an employee’s wages, benefits, and other employment protections.
Why One Rule?
Since rescinding its prior FLSA joint employer regulation in July 2021, the Department has lacked any regulatory guidance addressing joint employer status under the FLSA. The absence of a governing standard created a fragmented landscape, forcing the Department’s own investigators to apply judicial standards that vary from circuit to circuit across the federal courts. Meanwhile, the FMLA and MSPA regulations continued to articulate their own distinct joint employer standards, despite both statutes incorporating the FLSA’s statutory definitions of “employ” and “employee.”
The Department’s objectives are to reduce compliance and litigation costs, improve enforcement consistency, promote greater uniformity among court decisions, and help workers better understand their rights. As Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said, “[a] clear standard on joint employment would give businesses more confidence to invest in partnerships, help employees understand their rights, and make the...
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