AGC Supports DOL Revisions to Joint Employer Status under FLSA 

On June 25, AGC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) revising and clarifying the responsibilities of employers and joint employers to employees in joint employer arrangements. In 2017, the DOL withdrew the previous administration's sub-regulatory guidance regarding joint employer status that did not go through the rulemaking process that includes public notice and comment. The NPRM’s emphasis on the actual exercise of control as a prerequisite to a joint employer finding encourages cooperation between businesses without exposing them to potential liability under an uncertain standard.

AGC’s comment letter supplements group comments signed onto by AGC that were filed by the Coalition for Democratic Workplace. The group comments welcome the WHD’s proposal to adopt a consistent, common-sense standard for determining joint employer status under the FLSA (Part 791) and supports the acknowledgment that the facts of the relationship between the employee and the employer should govern the joint employer determination, not the structure of the relationship between purported joint employers or business-to-business partners. AGC’s independent comments provide further insight and specific examples common to the construction industry where the application of a joint employer standard is uniquely impactful and relevant.

AGC will continue to provide input to the DOL on the impact further changes might have on the construction industry and will notify members of any developments.   

For more information, contact Claiborne Guy at claiborne.guy@agc.org or 703-837-5382.