Federal Spotlight: DOL Issues Final Rule on Joint Employer Standard

February 27, 2020

The Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled its final rule for the definition of the joint employer standard on Wednesday. The rule, which falls under the National Labor Relations Act, has been restored to a more traditional definition that had been in place for decades until that was upended in 2015 by the Browning-Ferris decision via the National Labor Relations Board. To be considered a joint employer under the new rule, "a business must possess and exercise substantial direct and immediate control over one or more essential terms and conditions of employment of another employer's employees." Restoring the pre-Browning-Ferris definition of the Joint Employer Standard is a big and important win for the business community.