Venable partner Ron Taylor was quoted in a September 8, 2015 USAE article on a case before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which could determine whether nonprofits can be viewed as joint-employers with other entities. The article cites a Venable Nonprofit Alert written by Taylor and partner Jeff Tenenbaum focused on the NLRB case.
Taylor told USAE that the NLRB's decision represents a "sea change" in the way joint-employment relationships are assessed. "While some might argue the decision is fairer to workers and consistent with the current governmental emphasis on worker misclassification and supposed wage theft, the NLRB's decision arguable goes further than those decisions," he said. "It is difficult to predict at this point the decision's true impact, but its potential effect is sweeping."
Taylor continued, "Accordingly, nonprofits wishing to avoid potential joint employment relationship claims under the NLRA, for now, at least, should review their contingent workforce relationships to identify the existence of explicit, actual, and implicit, potential, control over the hours, wages, and working conditions of contingent workers, should assess whether identified instances would support a joint employment claim and should rewrite contractual provisions and otherwise clarify the relationship to avoid such 'control' to the extent practicable."