On June 17, the US House Labor Appropriations Subcommittee approved an annual spending bill which includes legislation to prevent the prosecution of any unfair labor proceeding under an expanded definition of "joint employer". The bill prohibits the expenditure of funds for this type of prosecution or investigation. The language is as follows: "SEC. 408. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to investigate, issue, enforce or litigate any administrative directive, regulation, representation, issue or unfair labor practice proceeding or any other administrative complaint, charge, claim or proceeding that would change the interpretation or application of a standard to determine whether entities are ''joint employers'' in effect as of January 1, 2014."
As background, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been under fire for its recommendation last year that McDonalds should be treated as a joint employer. The question as to what test to use for this determination has been the subject of much debate ever since. The expanded definition of a "joint employer" includes that an entity could be classified as an employer if it had potential rather than direct and immediate right to control the terms and conditions of employment. You can review an explanation of the various standards that exist and are being advanced by the NLRB HERE.
The next step in the legislative process is that the bill will be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee. In addition, the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee is planning to consider its own annual spending measure this week. We will keep you posted.
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