On February 26, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final rule that formally reinstates the 2020 joint employer rule. When two or more businesses co-determine or share control over a worker’s terms of employment (such as pay, schedules, and job duties), then both businesses may be considered to be employers of that worker, also known as “joint employers.” The NLRB only determines joint employer status for the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act, which gives private-sector workers the right to form a union and collectively bargaining.  

For decades the NLRB had a narrow definition of joint employer, which did not account for employers’ growing use of outsourcing functions to contractors or subcontractors.  In 2015, the NLRB’s Browning-Ferris decision adopted a joint employer standard that required all firms that control the terms and conditions of employment to come to the bargaining table, ensuring that workers are again able to engage in their right to collective bargaining. 

In 2018, the NLRB issued a rule that narrowed the definition of joint employer to include only business that have “exercises substantial direct and immediate control over an employee’s essential terms and conditions of employment in a manner that is not limited and routine.” At the time, EPI estimated the rule would result in an annual transfer of $1.3 billion from workers to employers, because workers would not be able to bring all firms that influence their wages and working conditions to the bargaining table. The final rule went into effect April 2020.   

In October 2023, the NLRB rescinded and replaced the 2020 joint employer rule with a stronger rule where a firm may be found to be an employer where there is evidence of indirect and reserved forms of control, as long as those forms of control bear on employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment.  In March 2024, a federal district court judge vacated the 2023 rule before it could go into effect.  

By formally reinstating the 2020 joint employer rule, the NLRB has codified a joint employer standard that favors employers and is less protective for workers.  

Impact: The 2020 rule narrowed the definition of joint employer to firms that exercise direct and immediate control over a worker’s essential terms and conditions of employment. This narrow definition makes it harder for workers to bring all firms that have influence over their wages and working conditions to the bargaining table. In 2018, EPI estimated that the 2020 joint employer rule would cost workers $1.3 billion annually.