WASHINGTON (April 10, 2024) – American Hotel & Lodging Association Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey released the following statement today after the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to overturn the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) destructive joint-employer rule. The House of Representatives passed the same resolution in January, and it now heads to the president’s desk for consideration.

Additionally, following a lawsuit filed by AHLA and other business groups, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on March 8 blocked NLRB’s implementation of the rule.

“Today’s bipartisan Senate vote is a win for hoteliers and small business owners everywhere, and shows the rule is out of step with Congress, the courts, and America’s job creators. Lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate realize the administration’s joint-employer rule would acutely suppress job creation for hoteliers and other businesses, and therefore it needs to be abandoned,” said AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey. “We thank Sen. Cassidy, Sen. Manchin, Leader McConnell and their Senate colleagues for listening to the thousands of small business hoteliers AHLA represents and passing this resolution.”

Background
In October, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a final rule unjustifiably expanding the “joint-employer standard” under the National Labor Relations Act.

On Jan. 12, the House approved a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the rule – the same resolution the Senate passed today.

After AHLA and other business groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging joint-employer’s legality, the court blocked NLRB from implementing the rule. In its decision, the court also reinstated a 2020 NLRB standard that protects businesses from undue liability for employees over whom they do not have direct control.

About Joint Employer
NLRB’s joint-employer rule is all about coercing businesses to the bargaining table with workers they do not actually employ to increase unionization. The rule would make it easier for the NLRB to declare joint employment status in business relationships, such as franchising, and it would enable unions to organize by company rather than property by property.