WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation today issued the following statement from Senior Vice President of Government Affairs David French in response to the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed joint employer rule. The rule would provide legal clarity surrounding business-to-business relationships and reverse the controversial Obama-era joint employer standard.
“The broad and vague joint employer standard put in place during the previous administration made it harder to do business and discouraged entrepreneurship. When one business can be held liable for the actions of another independent company, the result is limitless liability and weaker job creation.
“It should be crystal clear what it means to be an employer, and that’s what this proposed rule will achieve. We are pleased the NLRB is working to clear up the confusion surrounding basic, business-to-business relationships and provide retailers large and small the certainty they need.”
About NRF
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.