A new column explains why businesses across the country are so fearful of the NLRB’s new joint employer rule that will hurt private companies and stifle economic growth
October 18, 2016
Women-Run Businesses To Feel The Brunt Of NLRB’s Joint-Employer Rule
In the United States, there are close to 10 million businesses operated by women across the country accounting for $1.2 trillion of economic stimulation each year. Like most businesses across the country, these owners continue to be deeply concerned about the NLRB’s joint employer ruling that drastically changes the relationship between businesses and contractors.
Franchiser Clara Stockeland recently voiced concerns that the joint employer rule would threaten her business’s growth and make her responsible for employees that are not even on her payroll:
The NLRB joint employer rule threatens that growth by establishing that labor laws pertaining to “employers” could be applied a step further to franchisers like me. This interpretation of a regulation could leave me legally vulnerable for decisions that I do not make and for employees not on my payroll. It’s an interpretation that signals a fundamental misunderstanding of the franchising model itself – a model that I, and others like me, have been able to use to successfully build our brands and create opportunity.
Stockeland worries that overnight regulations passed by unelected bureaucrats in Washington could fundamentally change the way franchises operate:
As I’ve explained in Washington on several occasions – even when testifying before Congress – the risks that self-employed Americans face are huge. Sudden regulatory changes shouldn’t have the power to transform our business reality overnight. And while I don’t believe policymakers were targeting businesses like mine, they certainly weren’t thinking about how their actions my affect my company.
The joint employer rule threatens millions of business owners and employees who will be left to sift through the vague language of the NLRB’s decision. The joint employer rule will also discourage the entrepreneurial spirit of America and tie up business owners with burdensome new regulatory costs and unnecessary paperwork.
The NLRB lacks the fundamental understanding of the detrimental effects this new rule will bring to the millions of people who rely on the franchise model for their everyday livelihoods.