The New Republic | How Trump Plans to Crush Fast-Food Workers by Timothy Noah
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Tim Noah argues that President Trump’s latest Labor Department proposal to narrow the joint‑employer definition will let fast‑food franchisors escape responsibility for the wages and conditions of the workers who actually flip burgers, deepening a long‑standing “fissured workplace” in which corporations off‑load low‑wage labor to independent franchisees and contractors to avoid legal obligations. The rule overturns Obama‑era guidance that treated a company as a joint employer when workers were economically dependent on it, reverting instead to a narrow view that only direct hiring relationships count—a change that courts have already rejected as contrary to the Fair Labor Standards Act. By redefining “employer” to exclude indirect control, the regulation could affect roughly 15 million workers in franchised establishments, stripping them of roughly $1 billion in annual wages and overtime protections. Noah traces this dynamic to decades of franchising strategy, antitrust rulings, and the rise of the “share‑cropping” model that leaves most franchisees—often single‑restaurant owners—with razor‑thin margins and incentivizes the exploitation of their employees, while the parent brands reap profits and avoid liability. The proposed Trump rule therefore threatens to exacerbate economic inequality by further impoverishing fast‑food workers who already rely on welfare and low‑pay jobs.
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https://newrepublic.com/article/212452/trump-joint-employer-rule-franchises
#McDonalds #LaborDepartment #Trumpadministration #fastfood #minimumwage #TimNoah #DavidWeil
