The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final rule formally reinstating the 2020 standard for determining joint-employer status. This move follows a period of significant regulatory flux and effectively raises the bar for when two separate entities are deemed to “jointly employ” a workforce. While the NLRB has been applying this tighter standard since a 2023 rule was struck down by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America et al., v. National Labor Relations Board et al., this week’s action formally updates the Code of Federal Regulations. For companies utilizing staffing agencies, subcontractors or franchise models, this return to a “direct and immediate” control test provides a more predictable, albeit potentially temporary, legal framework.
The reinstated rule states that a company is only a joint employer if it exercises “substantial direct and immediate” control over the essential terms and conditions of another company's employees.
Under this standard, the following are typically insufficient to establish joint employment:
Kenneth Scott Miller, 48, is charged with a felony count of making a false report to law enforcement. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond. According to an Escambia County ...