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The NLRB McDonald's Ruling And Franchisors

By Geoffrey A. Mort
April 02, 2015

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel's July 29, 2014, ruling that McDonald's is a joint employer of those who work for its roughly 14,000 franchised restaurants in the United States continues to send ripples through both the legal and business worlds. The NLRB general counsel's decision was made in an internal, unpublished memorandum concerning a group of cases filed with the board asserting that McDonald's as well as its franchisees had violated the rights of franchisee employees with respect to protests over wage and hour issues. Significantly, however, the NLRB usually follows the legal advice of its Office of the General Counsel, or OGC. Louis S. Chronowski, “NLRB Decision Shocks Franchise World: McDonald's, a 'Joint Employer' of Franchise Employees,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, Sept. 23, 2014.

The OGC's ruling first will be tested before administrative law judges (ALJ) who hear the employees' claims in these cases. Assuming that the ALJs find against McDonald's, there seems little doubt that the company will appeal to the full, five-member NLRB. Steven Greenhouse, “Ruling Says McDonald's Is Liable for Workers,” N.Y. Times, July 30, 2014, at B1.

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