The National Association of Truck Stop Owners (NATSO) told a House subcommittee last week that the National Labor Relations Board’s revisions to the “joint employer” standard has impacted the travel plaza industry negatively.
The NLRB and the Department of Labor began revising the “joint employer” standard in 2015 to expand the scope of determining “co-employment” under the National Labor Relations Act. Under the expanded standard, a company could be considered a “joint employer” of an employee, with another company, if it possesses the right to control various terms and conditions of employment, regardless of whether the company exercises such control. The previous standard required exercising such control.
In a statement submitted to the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions hearing on “Restoring Balance and Fairness to the National Labor Relations Board,” NATSO said broadening the joint employer standard exposes companies to legal liability for how their subcontractors, staffing agencies and franchisees treat their employees.
The broader standard not only open companies to legal liability, it would also make businesses responsible for providing overtime pay and healthcare benefits to a larger universe of employees and make them more susceptible to workforce unionization.
This is a concern to the travel plaza industry since companies hire independent contractors to provide various services for their facilities, such as fuel delivery and infrastructure maintenance.
NATSO is urging Congress to produce a legislative solution to this issue so the fix is permanent.
“Although well-intentioned, these efforts will result in harming the very individuals that they are designed to protect,” NATSO officials said in the statement. “NATSO believes the best way to avoid this outcome is for Congress to enact a permanent legislative solution to the joint employer issue that provides certainty to small and large businesses and promotes economic growth and job creation.”
In addition to NATSO, 50 other trade associations are urging Congress to re-examine the NLRB “joint employer” standard.