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Department of Labor (DOL) Franchises

Foley & Lardner LLP

DOL Alters Enforcement Position on Independent Contractors: What Does It Mean For Manufacturers and Franchisors?

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On May 1, 2025, the Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin stepping back from a restrictive independent contractor rule issued under the Biden...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fifth Circuit Declines Reconsideration of FLSA Salary Rule Decision

Last year in a rare victory for the Department of Labor, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim by a Dairy Queen franchisee that the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits DOL from establishing any minimum salary for...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Navigating Joint Employment: A Renewed Push to Implement a More Employer-Friendly Standard

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With a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, business lobbyists are seizing the opportunity to push for permanent clarity on the issue of joint employment. The International Franchise Association (IFA) is advocating...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Lucid Interpretation of “Affiliates” under Washington’s Franchise Act

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A Washington state appeals court has clarified the scope of Washington’s Franchise Act in Lucid Group USA, Inc. v. State of Washington, Department of Licensing. There, Lucid Group USA, Inc. (“Lucid Group”), the dealer, wanted...more

Hendershot Cowart P.C.

FTC Votes To Adopt Final Rule To Ban Non-Compete Agreements

Hendershot Cowart P.C. on

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to publish the “Non-Compete Clause Rule” to ban employers from entering into non-compete clauses with workers on or after the effective date. The rule will be...more

McCarter & English, LLP

NLRB Establishes New Joint Employer Rule

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The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) governs private sector labor/management relations in the United States. Under the NLRA, employers have certain responsibilities and restrictions with regard to their employees,...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

NLRB Wants Employers to be Responsible for Contract, Franchise Workers

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In the latest of a string of decisions seemingly supporting President Biden’s claim of being the most pro-union president in history, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this week issued its Final Rule on the Standard...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

NLRB Issues Final Rule on Joint-Employer Status

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On October 27, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published its final rule on the standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act, effective December 26, 2023. The new rule...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Franchise Industry Calamity Averted, For Now

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In recent blogs, we identified serious threats to the franchise industry – the Protect the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act, joint employer standards, state ABC laws, and the new Biden Administration guard at the Department of...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Franchising Threat No. 3: Other State Legislation And Policies

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The California version of the ABC test is arguably the most hostile to franchising. Nonetheless, the risk is not confined to California. This is because the ABC employee classification test, with variations, has been...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Franchising Threat No. 2: Joint Employment Is BACK!

Fox Rothschild LLP on

The second troublesome threat is the joint employment standard. The Obama Adminstration DOL caused angst in the franchise industry in January 2016, when it adopted a joint employment standard that focused on “whether the...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Legal Threats To The Franchise Industry: Is This The Apocalypse? (Part 1)

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Omens of the Apocalypse for the franchise industry are everywhere: •The pending Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act; •The return of David Weill, author of Fissured Employment and chief architect of the Obama era...more

Polsinelli

Labor Department Rescinds Pro-Franchise Joint-Employment Rule

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On July 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it is rescinding a final rule issued just last year (2020 Final Rule) that sought to clarify the standard for finding two separate entities to be “joint employers”...more

Roetzel & Andress

Department Of Labor Planning Enhanced Enforcement

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Not surprisingly, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is looking to reverse many of the Trump administration’s employer-friendly initiatives and rules. Those reversals include: •Setting aside...more

Roetzel & Andress

Department Of Labor Seeks To Rescind The Trump Administration’s Joint-Employer Rule

Roetzel & Andress on

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to rescind a Trump administration joint-employer rule. The joint-employer rule attempted to treat companies, like McDonald’s and FedEx, as joint employers of franchise...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

WHIPLASH! A Stunningly Fast Reversal Of Labor Policies

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It was predictable – even inevitable – that the Biden administration would reverse much of Trump’s labor oeuvre. But no one could have predicted how quickly! In a little more than a month, the administration has:...more

Lathrop GPM

The Franchise Memorandum - Issue # 262

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California Supreme Court Applies Independent Contractor Standard Retroactively; Does Not Reach Applicability to Franchises - The California Supreme Court has held that its Dynamex decision applies retroactively, answering...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Unintended Consequences? The Employment Battle Threatens Franchising

Fox Rothschild LLP on

The one-two punch of state and federal employment standards activity poses an existential threat to franchising; many commentators, including this one, have acknowledged that fact. But why? Did the California legislature or...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Franchising On The Precipice: Unknowns In Transition

Fox Rothschild LLP on

Change is coming, but will it be a welcome change or a harbinger of woe? Over the last 8 years or so, the ever-changing landscape of employment laws has arguably posed an existential threat to franchising. The franchise...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Joint Employment -- Still a Conundrum

For generations of small business owners franchising serves as a successful business model. Under this paradigm a franchisor grants a franchisee a license to use the franchisor’s trademark and business concept in exchange for...more

Polsinelli

Battle Continues Over Joint-Employment Standards That Affect Franchising

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Despite recent setbacks, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) is continuing its efforts to clarify the standard for finding two separate entities to be “joint employers” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Under the...more

Polsinelli

Evolving Worker Classification Standards and the Future of Franchising

Polsinelli on

From a ballot measure in California, to a court decision in Massachusetts, to federal regulations proposed by the Department of Labor, several recent developments could impact whether a franchisor’s independent franchisees...more

Lewitt Hackman

Competing Tests: Employee or Independent Contractor? Saving the Franchise Model

Lewitt Hackman on

Download PDF Assembly Bill 5 took effect in California on January 1, 2020 and governs when a business can treat a worker as an employee as opposed to an independent contractor. Under AB5 and its “ABC” test, a hiring entity...more

Littler

WPI Wage Watch: Minimum Wage, Tip, and Overtime Developments (February 2020 Edition)

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Hey, do you want to read an article not about COVID-19? Well, you are in luck, because in this virus-free issue of Wage Watch, we discuss only developments concerning the minimum wage, tips, and overtime that occurred in the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seyfarth Policy Matters Newsletter - February 2020 #3

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NLRB Issues Final Joint Employer Rule. On February 26, the NLRB published its final rule governing joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. ...more

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