On June 5, 2018, Jordan B. Schwartz, Eric J. Conn, and Lindsay A. DiSalvo of Conn Maciel Carey, presented a webinar regarding “Joint and Multi-Employer, Independent Contractor, and Temp Labor OSHA and Employment Law Issues.“

Employers’ perceptions about their legal responsibilities for certain workers is not always reality, particularly in the context of oft-changing interpretations of what constitutes an employer-employee relationship. An employer may classify workers as a temp or independent contractor, but that does not mean DOL agrees. At the tail end of the Obama Admin.,  DOL issued guidance that a majority of workers should be treated as employees, insinuating that in most cases, employers are accountable for the obligations of an employer-employee relationship. However, the Trump Admin. appears is shifting gears. That guidance was withdrawn by new Sec. of Labor Acosta. Congress has also begun to undercut the broad joint-employer standard established by the NLRB in Browning-Ferris, by revisiting language in applicable laws. It remains essential for employers to carefully evaluate employment relationships and their own functions in the multi-employer context.

Even if there is no legal employer-employee relationship, companies may have safety obligations and liability depending on their role at multi-employer worksites or when using temporary workers. Protection of temporary workers was a priority of OSHA in the prior Admin., and the guidance developed in that context remains the current standard for host employers and staffing agencies. OSHA has also stood by its multi-employer policy, though it is being challenged in federal court.

Participants in this webinar learned about:

• The current Joint Employer standard and efforts to alter it
• Criteria to evaluate the employer-employee relationship
• Guidance on establishing an independent contractor relationship and managing temporary workers at your workplace
• How OSHA applies its multi-employer worksite enforcement policy

Click here for a copy of the slides, and here to watch a recording of the webinar.

The June 5th webinar was the sixth webinar event in Conn Maciel Carey’s 2018 OSHA Webinar Series.  If you missed any of our prior webinars in the 2018 series, or any webinars from past years’ OSHA Webinar Series, here is a link Conn Maciel Carey’s webinar archive.

View our full schedule, detailed program descriptions, and individual registration pages for the remaining webinars in the 2018 OSHA Webinar series HERE.  To register for the entire 2018 series, click here to send us an email request, and we will automatically register you.