What is Joint Employment?

Joint employment occurs when one worker is employed by two or more separate employers simultaneously. These typically occur when there are joint ventures, staffing services, temporary work agencies, subcontracting and job sharing arrangements.

When there’s a violation though, the deep pocketed company often wants out, pointing the finger and claiming that the real employer is the smaller entity. In the face of rampant problems across the country, the DOL released a new interpretation to clarify which types of arrangements fall under the joint employment heading. The agency explains that it separates joint employment into two separate and distinct categories:

• The “Horizontal” View applies when two or more separate employers share a significant amount of responsibility over the employee’s work. To determine whether this classification applies, look for:
  • Common ownership, officers, directors or managers between the companies
  • Shared supervision over the employee
• The “Vertical” View applies when a company contracts for workers who remain directly employed by an intermediary company. Temporary staffing arrangements may fit into this category. Relevant factors for determining applicability include:
  • Who supervises the work of the employee
  • Permanency of the relationship
  • Where work is performed
  • Who controls the employment status of the employee
  • Are the employee’s responsibilities integral to the joint-employer’s business

For an employee, it is important to evaluate your employment arrangement to determine the responsibilities and duties of each joint employer.

If you have questions about your employer, contact our law office to speak with an employment law attorney.

Who Was Most Affected?

The minimum wage increase mainly supported lower-paid professionals including:

• Retail and store workers
• Manual laborers and shift workers
• Customer service teams
• Service professionals receiving tips
• Food and hospitality staff

Although this rise may sound small, it set the foundation for future wage reforms and created immediate payroll adjustments for both employers and employees.

Major Reforms for Tipped Service Advisors and Service Workers

Service staff, especially in food and automobile-related shops, often rely on tip income. Employers can apply a tip credit, allowing them to pay a lower hourly base so long as tips compensate the difference to reach minimum wage. However, lawmakers restricted how large this credit could be.

For service employers and restaurants, the maximum tip credit was reduced:

• From $3.50 per hour
• To $1.50 per hour

As result, the required minimum base pay for tipped workers rose:

• From $5.00 per hour
• To $7.50 per hour

This shift ensured tipped employees received a stronger guaranteed hourly component, regardless of customer volume or slow business days.

Overtime Wage Impact

Both federal and state law mandate that overtime must be paid at 1.5× hourly rate. Based on the new $9.00 minimum wage, the updated 2015 overtime rate became:

• $13.50 per hour, up from $13.13

Even though the DOL announced that withdrawal did not change legal responsibilities, many automotive and food employers had to revisit payroll calculations, overtime approval processes, and worker classification assumptions.

Workplace Classification Still Matters

Interpretations from agencies like the United States Department of Labor shaped employer policy for years. Still, courts now rely more on job duties than old handbook references. Employers using outdated assumptions may face pay misclassification claims.

What Employers Must Do Now

To maintain compliance and avoid liability, companies should update:

Dispute-resolution strategy with legal support

Pay benchmarking systems

Tipped worker payroll models

Overtime calculations

Internal wage-classification reviews

If you have questions about New York’s new minimum wage rate, contact our office to speak with an experienced attorney.

This pregnancy discrimination guideline update will address gaps in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The goal is to protect workers. It also helps employers understand their liability.

The Peggy Young UPS Case and Guideline Debate

The latest push for pregnancy discrimination guideline reform connects strongly to workplace disputes like the Peggy Young case. Peggy Young worked for United Parcel Service.

Her doctor advised her not to lift more than 20 lbs during pregnancy. She requested light-duty work. UPS refused. The decision forced her on unpaid leave. She lost medical coverage during that time.

At issue:

• Does the Pregnancy Discrimination Act require accommodations? Not strictly.
• Does ADA require temporary disability accommodations? Yes.
• Should pregnancy equal a temporary disability under ADA rules? Courts remain split.

The Donald B. Verrilli Jr. publicly supported clearer rules. He explained the need for stronger pregnancy discrimination guideline direction.

He said the agency is reviewing new enforcement guidance that will favor accommodations. His comments pushed national attention toward pregnancy discrimination guideline reform.

The Solicitor General was quoted in a brief for a case brought forward by UPS worker Peggy Young, who was forced to take unpaid leave and lost her medical coverage after UPS denied her request for light duty assignments. Young made her request after her doctor recommended she not lift more than 20lbs during pregnancy. However, the PDA was designed to make employers “pregnancy-blind” and increase pregnant women in the workplace. It does not force employers to accommodate pregnant workers. In contrast, the ADA does impose such requirements on employers.

The issue then would be whether courts should treat pregnancy as equivalent to a temporary disability in instances such as these that involve heavy lifting. Solicitor General Verrilli Jr. seems to suggest that pregnant women will be better accommodated, saying “The EEOC is currently considering the adoption of new enforcement guidance on pregnancy discrimination that would address a range of issues related to pregnancy under the PDA and the ADA.”

Look out in the near future for a new set of guideline from the EEOC that should be favorable to pregnant employees.

If you are pregnant and find yourself subject to different treatment, feel free to contact us.