​​Legislation would permanently protect local franchised businesses by codifying the appropriate joint employer standard, ensuring they can remain locally owned and operated Main Street businesses

WASHINGTON D.C. – The International Franchise Association (IFA) today applauded the introduction of the Save Local Business Act, legislation that will permanently clarify the joint employer standard and protect the independence of America’s 831,000 franchise businesses. The legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-KY).

“The Save Local Business Act provides much-needed stability to the franchise community on the issue of joint employer,” said Michael Layman, IFA Chief Advocacy Officer. “After four changes to the federal joint employer standard in the last decade, certainty and a reasonable, clear, and consistent standard of joint employer is essential to the nation’s 831,000 franchise small businesses’ plan for the future. We are grateful to Rep. Comer for his leadership and look forward to clarifying the joint employer standard once and for all.”

The top issue on IFA’s 2025 Roadmap for Economic Growth is codifying a joint employer standard that preserves franchisee independence and protects their equity.

In recent years, government regulators have tried to disrupt franchising by unnecessarily changing the joint employer standard – especially through the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) 2023 joint employer rule, which sought to expand the definition of joint employer to an ambiguous and overly broad standard that threatened the viability of the entire franchise model.

IFA led the lawsuit that resulted in the March 2024 federal court rejection of the NLRB’s 2023 joint employer rule. The 2023 joint employer rule would have significantly and unnecessarily affected the viability of the franchise model by imposing an unclear and expansive definition of joint employment. A previous joint employer rule destroyed 376,000 jobs, cost small businesses $33.3 billion, and led to a 93% spike in lawsuits in the franchise sector alone.

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About the International Franchise Association:

Celebrating over 60 years of excellence, education, and advocacy, the International Franchise Association (IFA) is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations, and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the approximately 830,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 8.8 million direct jobs, $896.9 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy, and almost 3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees, and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology, and business development.