News
10
www.asianhospitality.com
May 2024 | Issue 225
he U.S. Senate voted
to block the National
Labor Relations Board’s
final definition of joint-
employer status, following up
on a similar bill passed by the
House. President Biden vetoed
the bill, but opponents of the
NLRB joint employer rule,
such as the American Hotel &
Lodging Association, claim the
Senate’s resolution was a “win
for hoteliers.”
After the House passed
its Congressional Review
Act against the NLRB rule in
January, the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas
also issued an order blocking
the NLRB rule. AHLA supported
both efforts to block the NLRB
rule, calling the current joint
employer definition a threat to
the hotel franchise model.
“Today’s bipartisan Senate vote is a
win for hoteliers and small business
owners everywhere, and shows the rule
is out of step with Congress, the courts,
and America’s job creators. Lawmakers
from both parties in the House and
Senate realize the administration’s
joint-employer rule would acutely
suppress job creation for hoteliers and
other businesses, and therefore it needs
to be abandoned,” said Kevin Carey,
AHLA Interim president and CEO.
The NLRB ruling defines a joint
employer to be any company that
shares or codetermines one or more
essential terms and conditions of
employment. Those include ages,
benefits, and other compensation;
hours of work and scheduling; the
assignment and supervision of duties
to be performed; work rules and tenure
of employment.
The final rule rescinds the 2020 rule
that was promulgated by the prior
board and applies the new definition
of joint employer to any entity that
can control the essential terms of
employment whether or not such
control is exercised and without regard
to whether any such exercise of control
is direct or indirect.
Not likely to receive
Biden’s signature
The Senate version of the Congressional
Review Act was sponsored by Louisiana
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, West
Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin
and Republican Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell. Manchin and Cassidy gave
similar reasons for supporting the
legislation.
“In West Virginia, more than 98
percent of our businesses are small
businesses, and they are the heart and
soul of our communities,” Manchin said.
“The NLRB’s joint employer rule would
shut the door for thousands of citizens
who want to start a business and fulfill
the American Dream when we should
be focused on bolstering our economic
growth and empowering Main Street
America. I’m glad our CRA resolution
has now passed both the House and the
Senate and I encourage President Biden
to accept this bipartisan, bicameral
rejection of this confusing and
unnecessary rule.”
“Saddling franchisers
with liability for thousands
of franchise owners that
actually operate the day-to-
day activities of small business
would be a sure way to destroy
the system of franchising.
This model has empowered
those underrepresented in the
business community, such as
women and people of color,
to become successful small
business owners and create jobs
for others,” said Cassidy. “The
Biden administration should
support workers and increase
economic opportunity, not
make it easier to forcibly and
coercively unionize workers
while undermining the business
model of the establishments they
work for.”
However on May 3, Biden did veto
the bill, saying the NLRB rule would
prevent companies from evading their
responsibility for employees’ working
conditions and nullify workers’ attempts
to organize to ensure their rights.
“Without the NLRB’s rule,
companies could more easily avoid
liability simply by manipulating
their corporate structure, like hiding
behind subcontractors or staffing
agencies,” Biden said in a statement.
“By hampering the NLRB’s efforts to
promote the practice and procedure of
collective bargaining, Republicans are
siding with union-busting corporations
over the needs of workers and their
unions.”
Carey said AHLA was disappointed
that Biden chose to veto the bill.
“Thankfully, a federal court has
already intervened and is blocking the
administration from implementing its
job-killing joint-employer rule following
a lawsuit from AHLA and other business
groups,” he said. “We stand ready to fight
any attempt by the NLRB to appeal the
court’s decision.”
Senate passes bill blocking
NLRB joint employer rule
President Biden vetoed the legislation that AHLA welcomed as expected
The U.S. Senate voted to block the National Labor Relations Board’s final
definition of joint-employer status that the American Hotel & Lodging
Association said would stifle job creation.