Labor & Employment Law Update

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a controversial rule change to its longstanding “joint employer rule” in October of 2023, which dramatically lowered the thresholds by which a company could be deemed jointly liable and responsible under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) for another company’s unfair labor practices or collective bargaining obligations. In effect, the new rule could make unrelated, separate companies jointly responsible for violations of another employer under the NLRA.

On June 10, 2022 Governor Pritzker signed into law two new amendments to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (“Act”) that now expose non-union general contractors to liability for the wages of their subcontractor’s employees. Essentially, the amendments open up general contractors entering into construction contracts in Illinois to potential liability for claims brought under the Act against their subcontractors, for all contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2022.