Catherwood LibraryILR School

A new ruling by the National Labor Relations Board updated the standards for joint employers in the National Labor Relations Act. The ruling will require a greater number of big corporations to participate in labor negotiations that involve workers and the corporation’s franchisees or independent contractors. The National Labor Relations Act will now more strictly consider big corporations as joint employers. In the past, these large corporations subcontracted out work so that they were not legally considered employers. This made it difficult for workers to organize and form unions and made it easy for large corporations to avoid negotiating with employees. The update will make the right to organize and form unions more accessible to workers, Many business owners and members of Congress have expressed opposition to this new ruling. McDonald’s CEO stated that this change to the National Labor Relations Act attacks the franchising model, which is a core American innovation that has significantly benefited US society. Some franchisees stated that the ruling would increase corporate involvement in their business models, and they strongly prefer to have the freedom to make independent business decisions.