The 3rd Circuit’s new FLSA joint-employment test…in HAIKU

I just re-read yesterday’s blog drivel. What the hell was that?!? As much as I do love the two great tastes that taste great together, that was an utter FAIL and I vow never to incorporate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups into a blog post again. Unless, of course: (a) a makeshift Peanut Butter Cup bra is prominently featured in a reported sexual harassment case; or (b) Hershey’s wants to discuss some strategic product placement on The Employer Handbook. What can I say? YOLO and even this blogger has his price.

[Editor’s note: I was determined to work YOLO into this blog post. Be nice. Although, my blogging chops are generally sharp, I’m about three months behind on the lingo.]

Focus, Eric. Short blog post. You can handle haiku.

Arrgh! I cannot believe that Haiku-themed blog post, 17 syllables, would require readers to click through past the jump. Ah, whatever. Click through and someone call my editor…

Ok, here is the recent Third Circuit’s Fair Labor Standards Act opinion in In re Enterprise Rent-A-Car Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litigation in Haiku:

 

 

By here* I mean, p. 16 of the opinion. Or, read the “cut and paste” from the opinion below:

To summarize: When faced with a question requiring examination of a potential joint employment relationship under the FLSA, we conclude that courts should consider: 1) the alleged employer’s authority to hire and fire the relevant employees; 2) the alleged employer’s authority to promulgate work rules and assignments and to set the employees’ conditions of employment: compensation, benefits, and work schedules, including the rate and method of payment; 3) the alleged employer’s involvement in day-to-day employee supervision, including employee discipline; and 4) the alleged employer’s actual control of employee records, such as payroll, insurance, or taxes. As we have noted, however, this list is not exhaustive, and cannot be “blindly applied” as the sole considerations necessary to determine joint employment.

So, now you know how to determine whether you and another employer are really “joint employers” for FLSA purposes. Since, I just made your day, do me a solid, will ya? If you dig employment-law blogs that get temporarily fixated on peanut butter and chocolate, then why not take a few minutes, click here, and nominate The Employer Handbook for the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 Amici. That’ll make us even.