As if the egregious doubling of the “white collar exemption” weren’t enough, Obama’s Department of Labor has proposed another new regulation that is very friendly to organized labor at the expense of business. Although QSRs will likely not be directly impacted, a new regulation proposed by the Department of Labor and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory…
Read More »In a much-anticipated decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) yesterday declared war on small businesses across the country and on the franchise industry in particular by upholding the new expanded definition of joint-employer. By a partisan vote of 3-2, the full Board ruled that Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) was a joint employer along with a…
Read More »With the Obama administration moving full bore on implementing its new overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the business advocate’s office within the Small Business Administration has formally requested that DOL allow more time for concerned individuals and small businesses to comment on the proposal. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has proposed more…
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Rob Branca Before his career as a Dunkin’ Donuts owner and franchise industry expert, Rob Branca practiced law at the firm of Lisa & Sousa in Providence, RI. He worked closely with many Dunkin’ franchisees, setting up their business entities and real estate transactions—all the while gaining valuable insight into how family businesses operate and…
Read More »Originally, the notion of recasting the definition of “joint-employer” was floated as an opinion from the office of NLRB General Counsel. Subsequently, General Counsel Richard Griffin formally charged McDonald’s Corp as a joint-employer in a number of labor disputes stemming from New York. Last week, the new definition was formally adopted by the five-member National…
Read More »Concerned businesses and individuals have only until September 4, 2015 to submit comments to the Department of Labor regarding the agency’s proposed doubling of the FLSA overtime threshold. Public comments on the proposed change are welcomed during a 60 day window from the time the proposed regulation was published in the Federal Register. That window…
Read More »US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson for the District of Columbia validated the NLRB “ambush election” rules in her decision last week on a challenge brought before the DC court by the business community. Judge Jackson characterized the challenge as a disagreement with “choices made by the agency entrusted by Congress with broad discretion…
Read More »SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States, has granted a petition and will hear a case brought by Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other California Teachers challenging the requirement that they pay the equivalent of full union dues in order to retain their position as public teachers. The non-profit law firm, Center for Individual Rights,…
Read More »The Los Angeles City Council gave its final approval this week to an ordinance mandating a $15/hour minimum wage by 2020, but held back on some of the more controversial provisions they had been considering. Unbelievably, the Council is still deliberating whether to adopt an amendment exempting certain unions that may have negotiated lower pay…
Read More »In a rare moment of candor, one of the labor unions strongly supporting initiatives around the country to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour admitted that it will cost the country jobs, but still supports it anyway. Watchdog.com reported this week that IBEW Local 570 in Tucson, AR admitted in a host of tweets on…
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