Joint Employer Standard Causing Jurisdictional Headaches

Ever since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) blew open the joint employer concept last year in Browning-Ferris, it has been a rocky road for all involved to understand the implications of this new standard. The latest bump involves a question of jurisdiction: What happens when one of the joint employers is subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), but the other joint employer entity falls outside the jurisdiction of the NLRA?

The one clear takeaway is that if you are an employer subject to the NLRA, but you could potentially find yourself as a joint employer with an entity outside the jurisdiction of the NLRA, such a finding may not help you avoid the NLRA. How exactly the NLRB will consolidate these seemingly contradictory positions remains to be seen.