Well-heeled business interests lined up this week to ask a federal appeals court in Washington to throw out new workplace regulations with far-reaching implications.
Lawyers for the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Microsoft were among groups that filed amicus briefs, asking the court to declare the “joint employer” rule illegal.
The National Labor Relations Board redefined “joint employer” in August 2015, in a 3-2 vote. “Direct and immediate control” over working conditions should be what defines the term, the board concluded.
The decision, if upheld by the courts, will allow workers to negotiate with their managers’ clients—often major multinational corporations. The development would make it tougher for bosses and investors to use contracting or franchising schemes to skirt labor law and union drives.
Browning-Ferris, the company at the heart of the initial NLRB case and the litigant before the DC circuit, is a California-based waste management company.
According to Reuters, Microsoft claimed the rule will have overly broad implications impacting its internal structure. The tech conglomerate noted this includes the company’s “corporate social responsibility policy.”
“A spokeswoman declined to say how many temporary and contract workers it employed,” the wire service also noted, of the company. “[B]ut the Seattle Times quoted an unnamed source as saying there were 81,000 at one point in 2015.” Microsoft said it had 113,000 employees on staff overall at the end of last December.
The US Chamber of Commerce is a corporate-funded interest group and one of the most influential organizations in the country. No one else spends more on federal lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and it isn’t even close.
The group doled out $84.7 million on lobbying last year alone. The National Association of Realtors spent second most at $37.8 million.
The National Association of Manufacturers, meanwhile, spent $16.9 million on lobbying last year.
The federal appeals court in Washington—also known as the DC Circuit—is the second most influential court in the United States. Unlike other appellate courts, its decisions apply to the entire country. The DC Circuit often has the final say on matters, given the Supreme Court’s heavy caseload.
