NLRB Joint-Employer Ruling Will Change How Employers Do Business, Brian Garrison Says

An August 27 ruling issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has changed the "standard for determining joint employer status" in a development that experts said will have far-reaching implications. In a piece published in Human Resources News, Brian Garrison, partner in Faegre Baker Daniels' labor and employment practice, said under the new standard "more businesses will be subject to unfair labor practices, unions will have more opportunity to organize workers, and more businesses will be obligated to recognize and bargain with organized labor." Garrison also speculated on the practical measures employers may take in response to the new law.

"Some employers may decide to cut ties with staffing agencies that provide temporary workers or subcontractors that provide janitorial and security workers and take control of their relationships with those workers by hiring them directly," Garrison said.