Washington, D.C. – June 23, 2026 – Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) today announced the submission of a formal comment to the U.S. Department of Labor in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Joint Employer Status under the FLSA, FMLA, and MSPA.
In its comment, AFFT expressed strong support for the Department’s effort to restore clear, workable regulatory guidance on joint employer status. The organization emphasized that regulatory clarity benefits American workers by helping them identify who is responsible for wages, hours, leave, and working conditions, while encouraging beneficial business relationships that provide training, safety resources, compliance support, and job opportunities.
“AFFT welcomes the Department of Labor’s proposed joint employer rule as an important step toward providing the clarity that workers and employers need,” said Chip Rogers, CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment. “American workers are best served when the law focuses on actual, meaningful control over essential terms of employment rather than ordinary business practices like franchising support, brand standards, or compliance assistance. We urge the Department to finalize the rule with targeted clarifications that preserve franchising and other job-creating arrangements while holding true joint employers accountable.”
AFFT highlighted several key priorities in its comment:
- Maintaining actual exercise of control as the central focus of the vertical joint employer analysis.
- Strengthening protections for the franchisor-franchisee model, which supports millions of jobs and provides critical training and resources to workers.
- Preserving appropriate limits on the weight given to employment records, administrative functions, recommendations, and incidental impacts.
- Ensuring additional factors do not create an open-ended standard that undermines clarity.
The organization noted that uncertainty in joint employer doctrine can discourage the very partnerships and support systems that help smaller employers and their workers succeed.
Click here to read AFFT’s full comment (submitted via regulations.gov, Docket No. WHD-2026-0067).