Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Much has been written about the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial Browning-Ferris decision that significantly expanded the scope of joint employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act. But virtually no attention has been given to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent panel decision in Salinas v. Commercial Interiors, Inc., No. 15-1915 (4th Cir. 2017), which creates an altogether new and incredibly broad joint employment standard under the Fair Labor Standards Act that makes the NLRB’s Browning-Ferris joint employment standard seem temperate at best. Absent a successful appeal to the US Supreme Court or Department of Labor intervention, the Salinas decision could open the floodgates to joint employment FLSA litigation and liability within the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) and beyond.

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