House hearing examines impact of expanded 'joint employer' standard

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce today held a hearing examining the impact of the National Labor Relations Board’s expanded “joint employer” standard. The expanded standard raises questions about the extent to which separate organizations must bargain with a union jointly when one of the organizations has only indirect control over the terms and conditions of the other firm’s employees, or simply possesses but never exercises the ability to control such terms. In a case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, AHA and seven other national associations last year urged the court to reject the expanded standard, which for example could require joint bargaining with a union when a health care organization has engaged a temporary staffing agency whose staff are unionized. Witnesses at today’s hearing included representatives from Boston University School of Law, FedEx Ground, HR Policy Association, Coalition to Save Local Businesses, National Employment Law Project, and International Franchise Association.