Release date:
1/28/2019
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today filed comments opposing new proposed rules from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that would narrow its joint employer standard and effectively weaken employee protections. Attorney General Stein and 24 other attorneys general raised questions about the integrity of the new rules and concerns about harmful impacts it would have on workers and residents.
“North Carolina’s workers deserve nothing less than full rights and protections from their employers,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I oppose the NLRB’s new rules, which make it harder to ensure that the employment laws on the books adequately protect people.”
The current NLRB joint employer standard of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) governs the status and liability of an employer that shares control over the terms and conditions of workers’ employment with another employer, such as a franchise or a subcontractor. The current standard concludes that a company is an employer if it possesses the right to control or actually exercises direct or indirect control over employees’ terms and conditions of employment. Just two weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed this decision in Browning-Ferris Indus. v. NLRB. Attorney General Stein, along with other attorneys general in the coalition, work to hold joint employers accountable under federal, state, and local labor laws on issues such as minimum wage, overtime, and anti-discrimination. They contend that the new proposed rule undermines the statutory purposes of the NLRB, will make enforcement of the law more difficult, fails to provide clear standards for employees, employers, and labor organizations, and raises serious concerns about the Administrative Procedure Act. The coalition is also concerned about the integrity of the rulemaking.
Attorney General Stein is joined in sending today’s letter by the Attorneys General of New York, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
A copy of the comment letter can be found here.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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