Hot Topics: Worker Classification Issues

Worker classification issues are popping up in the news a lot again. This is because the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is taking a more aggressive view on joint-employer standards under the National Labor Relations Act, particularly as to how these standards apply in the staffing company and the franchisor-franchisee settings. Recently the Department of Labor (DOL) and the IRS have been aggressively pursuing companies on various fronts for misclassifying workers as independent contractors.

Joint Employment

The issue of joint-employer liability – when one company is tagged with the legal obligations of another company – is not new. Nonunion and union subsidiaries of the same parent company must be careful not to be deemed the same company. Otherwise, the nonunion subsidiary could be found responsible for the labor obligations of the union subsidiary. Sister companies and parent-subsidiary companies in any context must be careful to maintain their