On Oct. 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its final rule on Joint Employer Status Under the National Labor Relations Act. Effective Dec. 26, the final rule takes an ax to the ABC-supported 2020 NLRB joint employer final rule, which provided clear criteria for companies to apply when determining status. ABC will explore all options to push back on this harmful final rule, including possible litigation.

Immediately following the issuance of the final rule, ABC released the following statement:

“It is unfortunate that the Biden NLRB decided to greatly expand joint-employer liability under the NLRA, which will cause confusion and impose unnecessary barriers to and burdens on contractor and subcontractor relationships throughout the construction industry,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “As a result, contractors may be vulnerable to increased liability, making them less likely to hire subcontractors, most of which are small businesses. Ultimately, this overbroad standard will have an adverse impact not only on our member contractors, but also on the overall economy.”

On Dec. 7, 2022, ABC submitted comments to the NLRB urging the Board to withdraw the new proposed rule.

Resources:

• ABC General Counsel Littler Mendelson’s analysis of the final rule
• NLRB press release
• NLRB fact sheet
• ABC members-only archived webinar, Learn About Recent Developments at the NLRB Affecting Merit Shop Contractors

Continue to monitor ABC’s Newsline for further updates.