Associated Builders and Contractors released a statement opposing the U.S. Department of Labor’s recent rescission of the Joint Employer Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act final rule.

“ABC supported the prior final rule because it promised to bring additional clarity to a confusing area of the law, help alleviate unnecessary barriers to and burdens on contractor and subcontractor relationships throughout the construction industry, reduce needless litigation and encourage innovation in the economy,” says Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs.  

The earlier rule, which went into effect on March 16, 2020, promised to make the joint employment test narrower and more focused. In February 2020, 18 states had sued the DOL in federal court to strike down its joint employer final rule, but in September 2020, a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York judge ruled that parts of the final rule were illegal. A business coalition that includes ABC intervened in the case, in part to defend the construction industry against unwarranted attacks by the state plaintiffs on the industry’s long-established methods of doing business. For more information, visit abc.org.