According to a state representative, franchisors with operations in Pennsylvania shouldn't be considered joint employers, despite a 2015 National Labor Relations Board ruing.

In a Jan. 3 memo issued by Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery, he stated the Browning-Ferris Industries 2015 NLRB ruling found that a franchisor can be considered, along with the franchisee, a joint employer of the franchisee's employees if it has “sufficient control over the terms and conditions of employment.” Stephens called that ruling a “dangerous precedent” that can hold franchisors liable to a franchisee's
employees.

Stephens said his proposed legislation would make clear that Pennsylvania's Workers' Compensation Act; Unemployment Compensation Act and Human Relations Act; Wage Payment and Collection Law; and minimum wage law do not consider a franchisor an employer of a franchisee or a franchisee's employees.

Recently, the NLRB, under the administration of President Donald Trump, restored the pre-2015 standard in December 2018's Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors. The NLRB found that a fast-food corporation was a joint employer only if it had direct and immediate control over workers at the franchise and in a way that was not limited.

— Victoria Hudgins, of the Law Weekly •