On January 20, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released Administrator’s Interpretation (AI) No. 2016-1 regarding joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The AI identifies common scenarios in which two or more employers jointly employ an employee and are thus jointly liable for compliance. It pulls together all the relevant authorities — statutory provisions, regulations, and case law — to provide comprehensive guidance on joint employment under the FLSA and MSPA so that employers can properly analyze a potential joint employment scenario.
The Wage and Hour Division has also created a Joint Employment AI webpage, which includes the following materials:
- Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2016-1: Joint Employment Under the FLSA and MSPA
- Joint Employment AI: Questions and Answers
- New Fact Sheet 28N: Joint Employment and Primary and Secondary Employer Responsibilities Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Revised Fact Sheet 35: Joint Employment Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA)
- Graphical Illustration of Vertical Joint Employment
- Graphical Illustration of Horizontal Joint Employment
- Links to recent media and more.
