The recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board to consider franchisees “joint employers” of their franchisor dramatically diminishes the value of hundreds of thousands of small business owners around the country, says Matt Shriner, a local owner and operator of BrightStar Care in Lafayette, Calif. “The implication of the ruling is that franchisees are nothing more than contractors or salespeople for the national franchisor. I’ve put too much blood, sweat and tears and money into my own business. I’m every bit the entrepreneur that anyone else is,” Shriner said. He was referring to an Aug. 27 decision by the NLRB declaring Browning-Ferris Industries to be a joint employer with Leadpoint, a staffing services company. Shriner is joining with thousands of franchisees nationwide to support Congressional legislation that would restore the previous legal standard for determining who is a joint employer.
