The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a new joint employer rule that will affect many convenience stores when it goes into effect.

The new rule rescinds the 2020 joint employer measure and makes it easier for companies to qualify as joint employers, including in franchising, contracting and supply chains. The rule broadens liability for employers and enables unions to organize across companies, rather than store by store.

In the webinar, the NACS government relations team and labor counsels Fisher & Phillips walked attendees through some of the challenges convenience retailers may face with the new NLRB Joint Employer rule.

In addition to discussing the history of the NLRB and the details of the joint employer rule, Fisher & Phillips gave attendees immediate actions to prepare for the rule when it becomes effective.

In a small, albeit temporary win for the industry, the NLRB pushed the effective date for the new joint employer rule to February 26. It was previously scheduled to be implemented on December 16.

“You need to look very carefully at your reservation of rights provision, work with counsel to understand what areas you can minimize so that you can decrease your risk,” Tami Essis Culkar, Of Counsel at Fisher & Phillips, said. “We want to examine our practices and our policy and make sure that our practices are consistent with what we’re doing. We don’t want a policy that says we have control over employee’s wages and come to find out we actually don’t.”

Culkar added, “We want to take steps to ensure that our vendors and our contractors have sound employee relation programs.”

NACS, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of business advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas over its new joint employer rule for violating the National Labor Relations Act and for acting arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

For more on the NLRB, the joint employer rule and how it affects retailers as well as advice on preparing for its enaction, view the webinar here.