Labor Leaders Urge DOL to Drop Proposed Rule that Robs Workers of their Wages, and Shields Corporations from Accountability

Labor Leaders Urge DOL to Drop Proposed Rule that Robs Workers of their Wages, and Shields Corporations from Accountability

WASHINGTON -Today, Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce, and Ranking Member Ilhan Omar (MN-05), House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, urged Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Keith Sonderling to withdraw its proposed rule on determining joint employer status. The Members warned that the proposal would undermine worker protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) by making it harder to hold employers accountable for labor law violations.

In a letter to the Acting Secretary, the Members explained that the proposed rule conflicts with congressional intent and longstanding legal precedent by narrowing the standard for finding 'joint employment' liability. The proposal would limit workers' ability to recover unpaid wages and other remedies by shielding larger businesses that rely on subcontractors and staffing agencies from responsibility for violations of federal labor laws.

"By limiting who an employee can hold responsible for federal labor law violations, the Department's proposal would shield larger businesses whose business model relies on subcontracting with thinly capitalized subcontractors or farm labor contractors that cut corners on federal labor law compliance," wrote the Members. "If the thinly capitalized subcontractor or farm labor contractor is unable to pay back wages or judgments owed, then workers would be unable to recover from any employer."

The Members further noted that the proposal closely mirrors a 2020 Trump Administration rule that a federal court found unlawful and warned that the new proposal threatens to go even further by applying its narrowed interpretation of joint employment to the FMLA and MSPA in addition to the FLSA. The Members also cited analysis estimating that a similar proposal would cost workers more than $1 billion annually in lost wages and argued that the rule could leave both workers and franchisees with fewer protections while allowing larger corporations to evade accountability.

To read the full letter, click here.

###

Press Contact

Democratic Press Office, 202-226-0853