On April 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to clarify how “joint employer” status is determined under the FLSA (a key federal wage/hour law).
“Joint employment” generally means that two or more separate entities can both be treated as an individual’s employer because each has sufficient control or involvement in the person’s work, potentially sharing compliance responsibility.
The proposal keeps the traditional four-factor framework (hire/fire authority, substantial control of schedule/conditions, determining pay, and maintaining records), but treats the factors as non-exhaustive and allows consideration of additional indicators (including some economic-dependence considerations), while noting certain other factors are mainly about contractor-vs.-employee status.
Employers who work closely with individuals paid by other entities (e.g., staffing/subcontractors/franchises/platform arrangements) should contact counsel to discuss and otherwise monitor these developments very closely given potential joint-employment risk implications.