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Attention, franchise owners, sole proprietors, and independent contractors: It’s time to call your legislators and insist on their vote to protect how you make a living.
Why? Because federal agencies are attempting regulatory solutions to implement policies that Congress has refused to implement, policies that threaten the right of franchises and independent contractors to continue to operate our businesses as we do today.
Related: The NLRB’s joint employer rule faces a barrage of challenges, fueling a high-stakes battle over the future of franchising
Dangerous “protection of the right to organize”
The context you need to know begins with a bill that moderate Democrats in the U.S. Senate joined with Republicans to block. That bill was called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, and it contained language so dangerous to franchise owners and sole proprietors that Entrepreneur published his first series of political advocacy articles in opposition to it.
I wrote that series, called Campaign for Our Careers. This was an award-winning look at the PRO Act’s two most dangerous provisions for franchises and independent contractors: the co-employer standard and the ABC Test.
Related: New joint employer rule will crush franchising as we know it. Here’s what you can do to protect your business.
Congressional Review Act (CRA)
Since the PRO Act failed to pass through the legislative branch of government, the Biden administration sought to use the executive branch to force similar policy changes. We need every possible legislator to co-sponsor the use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn these executive moves.
Regarding co-employer language, the CRA would override changes to the co-employer standard by the National Labor Relations Board. This CRA has already passed the House of Representatives – with a bipartisan vote of 206-177 – but is still awaiting action in the Senate. The International Franchising Agency urged lawmakers starting in late February “to kill the employer once and for all.” More than 90 organizations have endorsed this CRA.
Regarding independent contractor language, the U.S. Department of Labor acknowledges in its new rule that there may be “conceptual overlap” with the most harmful section of the ABC Test for independent contractors. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says “the DOL’s assertion that the regulation does not reflect the ABC test leaves something to be desired.” The independent contractor CRA was introduced in the House and Senate in early March with more than 70 co-sponsors, and more are needed in both chambers to advance.
Lawsuits have been filed against both federal agencies, trying to stop these policy changes through the courts. But given how slowly the wheels of justice can turn, it is important for Congress to act.
Related: This new government rule threatens to disrupt the $825 billion U.S. franchise system
Contact your representatives now
Of course, for Congress to act, lawmakers need to listen to voters. Call or email your member of the House of Representatives and your two senators. Ask them to co-sponsor using the Congressional Review Act to stop both the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer standard and the Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule.
To contact your member of the House of Representatives, go here.
To contact your state’s two senators, go here.
Act now, without delay. Both of these changes will take effect March 11, unless the courts or Congress intervene.
Kim Kavin is one of half a dozen freelance writers and editors who are suing the U.S. Department of Labor in two separate lawsuits through the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Beacon Center of Tennessee over the independent contractor rule.