MSCI Tells Senate Leaders To Schedule Vote On Save Local Business Act

The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) has signed a letter organized by the Coalition to Save Local Businesses, urging Senate leaders to consider H.R. 3441, the Save Local Business Act. This bill would narrow the legal definition of joint employment under which a business could be held jointly liable for labor-law violations committed by a contractor or franchisee. The U.S. House passed the bill last November on an 242-181 vote.

In the letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and sent last Thursday, MSCI and its allies noted there are currently as many as eight different federal circuit court definitions for joint employment. The letter argued businesses need “clear definitions.”

The House bill would provide those definitions. Under H.R. 3441, an employer would be considered a joint employer of a worker only if that employer “directly, actually, and immediately” exercises significant control over the primary elements of employment, such as hiring, firing, determining pay, or supervising employees on a routine basis. Click here to read the letter to Senate leaders.

MSCI members who are interested in this issue are asked to call their U.S. senators urging them to consider this bill.