The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division
("WHD") recently issued an Administrative
Interpretation ("AI") to provide guidance on a
nebulous term, "joint employer." Joint employment
exists when two or more employers each employ the same employee and
either (1) the employers are sufficiently related to each other or
(2) the employee is economically dependent on both employers.
The first instance creates "horizontal joint employers;"
the second creates "vertical joint employers."
For example, if two restaurants owned by the same company each
hire the same waiter, and that waiter works 20 hours per week at
one restaurant and 20 hours per week at the other restaurant, then
the two restaurants are likely "horizontal joint
employers." Conversely, vertical employment often occurs
where an employer uses a third party, staffing agency, or labor
provider to hire employees. For example, a farmer may
contract with a labor contractor to harvest his crops.
