The Honorable Bradley Byrne
United States House of Representatives
119 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman Byrne,
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write to endorse H.R. 3441, the “Save Local Business Act of 2017.” Your legislation will reverse the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule, which expanded the joint employer standards. Reversal of this rule will provide relief to America’s small business community by eliminating unreasonable Washington interference between the employer-employee relationship.
A joint employer is a scenario in which two separate businesses share legal responsibilities over the same employee. Data shows the NLRB rule has, and will continue to have a tremendous impact on the franchise industry, one of the most dependable sources of job creation in recent years. American Action Forum estimates that this rule could result in 1.7 million fewer jobs in the private sector, with 500,000 of those losses directly in the leisure and hospitality industry. Such drastic job loss will further strain taxpayer funds by necessitating greater expenditures on programs like unemployment insurance, Medicaid, and housing assistance.
This legislation provides much needed clarity and certainty to America’s 770,000 franchise businesses, employing nearly 8.5 million workers. Specifically, under this legislation, an employer can only be considered a joint employer if it directly exercises significant control over the main elements of employment, such as hiring, firing, wage determination, or supervision of an employee’s day-to-day activities. This commonsense solution addresses the uncertainties and burdens associated with the expanded joint employer standard, which have had a harmful impact on local businesses throughout the country.
NTU strongly supports removing regulations that cause significant and unnecessary financial damage to business. Allowing businesses to reach their full potential will grow the workforce, and thus lower dependency on government resources. NTU is pleased to support this bipartisan piece of legislation.
Sincerely,
Thomas Aiello
Policy and Government Affairs Associate