{"id":2977,"date":"2014-06-05T06:41:59","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T12:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=2977"},"modified":"2014-06-02T16:42:20","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T22:42:20","slug":"general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/","title":{"rendered":"General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status"},"content":{"rendered":"

Noel P. Tripp – May 19, 2014<\/p>\n

Individuals employed by subcontractors in construction (and other industries) from time to time seek to go\u00a0\u201cup the food chain\u201d\u00a0and assert that control was exerted by general contractors on their job sites sufficient to render those general contractors \u201cjoint employers\u201d for purposes of the wage laws.\u00a0 The goal of course is to hold such general contractors liable for any failure to pay wages by the sub-contractor, their direct employer.\u00a0 A new decision rejects one such attempt.\u00a0\u00a0Almaraz v. Vision Drywall & Paint, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66924 (D. Nev. 2014).<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Almaraz, the court analyzed the traditional joint employer factors set forth in\u00a0Bonnette v. California Health and Welfare Agency, 704 F.2d 1465 (9th Cir. 1983) and the more \u201cfunctional\u201d factors identified in\u00a0Torres-Lopez v. May, 111 F.3d 633 (9th Cir. 1997).\u00a0 Specifically, the Court analyzed whether, under\u00a0Bonnette, the general contractors:<\/p>\n

(1) had the power to hire and fire employees, (2) supervised and controlled employee work schedules or conditions of payment, (3) determined the rate and method of payment, and (4) maintained employment records.<\/p>\n

The Court also separately analyzed whether the general contractors exerted functional control under theTorres-Lopez\u00a0factors, addressing:<\/p>\n

(1) whether the work was a specialty job on the production line; (2) whether responsibility under the contracts between a labor contractor and an employer pass from one labor contractor to another without material changes; (3) whether the premises and equipment of the employer are used for the work, (considering the alleged employee\u2019s investment in equipment or materials required for his task, or his employment of helpers); (4) whether the employees had a business organization that could or did shift as a unit from one [worksite] to another; (5) whether the work was piecework and not work that required initiative, judgment or foresight (considering whether the service rendered requires a special skill); (6) whether the employee had an opportunity for profit or loss depending upon [the alleged employee’s] managerial skill; (7) whether there was permanence [in] the working relationship; and \u00a0 (8) whether the service rendered is an integral part of the alleged employer\u2019s business.<\/p>\n

Finding all of these factors under both tests to be neutral or favorable to the general contractors, with the exception of the setting of wage rates and maintenance of records which \u201cslightly\u201d favored joint employer status due to the general contractors\u2019 indirect control over wage rates and the maintenance of time records, the court ruled as a matter of law that the general contractors did not \u201cjointly\u201d employee the subcontractor\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n

Litigation and\u00a0DOL enforcement efforts continue to focus on joint employer issues. \u00a0This is expected to increase under the leadership of the new USDOL Wage and Hour Administrator. \u00a0Businesses which extensively use subcontractors must closely analyze how relationships are managed to limit subcontractors\u2019 employees\u2019 ability to successfully assert joint employer claims.<\/p>\n

via General contractors defeat claim of joint employer status – Lexology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noel P. Tripp – May 19, 2014 Individuals employed by subcontractors in construction (and other industries) from time to time seek to go\u00a0\u201cup the food chain\u201d\u00a0and assert that control was exerted by general contractors on their job sites sufficient to render those general contractors \u201cjoint employers\u201d for purposes of the wage laws.\u00a0 The goal of… Continue reading General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172],"tags":[27,201,533],"class_list":["post-2977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","tag-construction-law","tag-general-contractors","tag-joint-employer-status","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Noel P. Tripp – May 19, 2014 Individuals employed by subcontractors in construction (and other industries) from time to time seek to go\u00a0\u201cup the food chain\u201d\u00a0and assert that control was exerted by general contractors on their job sites sufficient to render those general contractors \u201cjoint employers\u201d for purposes of the wage laws.\u00a0 The goal of… Continue reading General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-05T12:41:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-05T12:41:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/\"},\"wordCount\":478,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"construction law\",\"General Contractors\",\"Joint Employer Status\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/general-contractors-defeat-claim-joint-employer-status\/\",\"name\":\"General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status - 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