Senate votes to overturn job-killing joint-employer rule

American Hotel & Lodging Association interim president & CEO Kevin Carey has welcomed the US Senate’s vote to overturn what the AHLA has termed a ‘job-killing joint-employer rule’. The Senate passed a resolution, 10 April, to overturn the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) joint-employer rule, following on from The House of Representatives passing the same resolution in January. It now heads to the president’s desk for consideration. Additionally, following a lawsuit filed by AHLA and other business groups, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on 8 March blocked NLRB’s implementation of the rule. “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,” a statement from the AHLA’s Kevin Carey, following the latest vote, ran. “Lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate realise the administration’s joint-employer rule would acutely suppress job creation for hoteliers and other businesses, and therefore it needs to be abandoned,” the AHLA interim president & CEO continued. “We thank Sen. Cassidy, Sen. Manchin, Leader McConnell and their Senate colleagues for listening to the thousands of small business hoteliers AHLA represents and passing this resolution.” In October, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had released a final rule  expanding the ‘joint-employer standard’ under the National Labor Relations Act. On 12 January, the House approved a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the rule – the same resolution the Senate passed on 10 April. After AHLA and other business groups filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging joint-employer’s legality, the court blocked NLRB from implementing the rule. In its decision, the court also reinstated a 2020 NLRB standard that protects businesses from undue liability for employees over whom they do not have direct control. AHLA says NLRB’s joint-employer rule is all about coercing businesses to the bargaining table with workers they do not actually employ to increase unionisation. The rule would make it easier for the NLRB to declare joint employment status in business relationships, such as franchising, and it would enable unions to organise by company rather than property by property. The AHLA is the largest hotel association in America, representing more than 30,000 members from all segments of the industry nationwide – including iconic global brands, 80% of all franchised hotels, and the 16 largest hotel companies in the US. Learn more at www.ahla.com.