3 Key Takeaways | Is Franchising Doomed? The 2024 Version
AGG Talks: Cross-Border Business - Navigating Inbound Franchising in the U.S.
One Month to More Effective Compliance on Business Ventures - Day 19 - Franchisor Compliance
This Am Law 200 partner is using Twitter to build his practice and authority - Legally Contented podcast
5 Key Takeaways | Franchising in the USA: Challenges for Latin American Brands
Is Franchising Doomed?
Starting an Esports Franchise With Guests Brett Diamond and Annie Scott Riley of Version1 and the Minnesota ROKKR
6 Key Takeaways | National Labor Relations Board Issues New Final Rule on Joint Employers
Strategies for Negotiating with a Franchisee and Franchisor
II-27 - Our 1st Anniversary Special: Bringing Back Our Inaugural Guest to Discuss What Was and What Will Still Be With President Trump
Inside NFL's Jaguars Owner's Fulham FC Purchase
Before committing to a franchise business, consider...
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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