NAA and NMHC joined a coalition of organizations to send a letter of support to Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Representative James Comer (R-KY) regarding legislation to codify the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB) joint employer rule.
The industry-supported Save Local Business Act “would amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act to make clear that an employer may be considered a joint employer in relation to an employee only if such employer directly, actually, and immediately exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment.” NAA and NMHC strongly believe that apartment firms should not be left liable for fines for employees of suppliers who violate Federal labor laws.
Notably, the Save Local Business Act stands counters the House-passed Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act that would, among other provisions, enable the NLRB to find a joint employment relationship on indirect and reserved authority. While the NLRB in February 2020 overturned an Obama-era rule imposing this standard, the PRO Act would statutorily reinstate the rule. As previously reported, NAA and NMHC oppose the PRO Act because we believe it would drastically restructure America’s labor laws resulting in economic upheaval that would cost millions of American jobs, threaten vital supply chains, and greatly diminish opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Joint employer scenarios occur when the supervision of an employee’s activity is shared between two or more businesses. The NLRB ruled that it could impose joint employer liability when an entity has “indirect” control and “unexercised potential” of control over another entity’s employees. This is a significant change from three decades of business practices where entities were designated joint employers when both had “direct and immediate” control over “essential terms and conditions of employment.”
NAA and NMHC have long supported rescinding this onerous standard and will continue to push for approval of the Save Local Business Act in the House and Senate.