DOL published proposed joint employer rule

On April 22, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced a proposed rule to address joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). This is an area of the law where components of legislative, executive, and judicial branches — at both the federal and state levels — have presented widely varying tests and standards.

Current rules

Currently, the WHD’s existing regulations under the FMLA and MSPA have different joint employer standards that vary in their level of detail. The proposed rule would ensure that the standard for joint employment under the FMLA and MSPA is consistent with the FLSA standard.

What the proposed rule does

The proposed rule is designed to address the lack of consistent regulatory guidance by offering a single federal standard that comes from similarities in federal court precedent (including Supreme Court rulings) and resolves significant differences among the circuit courts. The WHD hopes the proposed rule will give employees and employers a clear, consistent understanding of when multiple employers are jointly responsible for protecting the wages and other rights of employees by clearly communicating the WHD’s position and approach.

If the three laws shared the same regulatory joint employer provisions, the proposed rule could:

• Promote better business practices,
• Provide more clarity and certainty,
• Reduce litigation, and
• Enhance uniformity in the way courts and the WHD apply the three laws.

Joint employer liability

When a joint employment relationship exists, employers are jointly and separately liable for any wages, damages, and other relief owed to an employee, including paying for all hours the employee worked for all joint employers, including all overtime premiums due. Joint employers can also be liable for FMLA violations.

All interested parties are encouraged to submit comments on the proposed rule and may do so electronically at Regulations.gov until 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 22, 2026. After that date, the WHD must review the comments before publishing a final version of the rule.