On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board
("NLRB") issued its final rule on the standard for
determining joint-employer status for businesses and employees
covered by the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). The
issuance of the final rule reverses the prior standard for
determining joint-employer status set forth in the NLRB's 2015
decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California,
Inc., where the Board held that a company could be deemed a
joint employer if its control over the essential terms and
conditions of another business's employees was merely indirect,
limited and routine, or contractually reserved but never exercised.
Unlike the prior standard established under
Browning-Ferris, the final rule clearly addresses and
identifies the control for creating joint-employer status under the
NLRA, providing the much needed guidance businesses and employees
were seeking. As stated by NLRB Chairman John Ring in a press
release for the new rule, "This
