Senator Blunt: NLRB Decision Bad for Small Businesses and the Middle Class

Statement

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement following the National Labor Relations Board ruling today on joint employer status in Browning-Ferris:

"The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed language I put forward that would prohibit federal funds from being used to implement this poor decision that takes away decision-making from a small business owner," said Blunt. "The NLRB ruling could do irreparable damage to the franchise model, which is overwhelmingly small business owners who hire local employees. The franchise business model, as much as any other, has helped more people join and rise up within the middle class. The person that runs the local franchisee, whether it's a Hampton Inn, a Jiffy Lube, or a Hardee's, will have a hard time explaining to their employees or the local banker that they are not responsible for what happens in that local business. This ruling will stop job growth, economic growth, upward mobility, and a path to owning a small business."

On August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board released its 3-2 decision involving Browning-Ferris Industries of California and the National Labor Relations Board. This decision allowed for the NLRB to redefine its joint-employer status, declaring that two or more entities are "joint employers of a single workforce" if those entities are both employers by law, and both "share or codetermine."

Blunt is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies, and held an oversight hearing on May 14, 2015 where he questioned the chairman and general counsel of the NRLB on the joint employer standard.

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