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The National Labor Relations Board will appeal the recent ruling of a Texas federal judge who sided with business groups in the fight against the agency’s “joint employer” rule, it said this week (Law360, subscription).

What’s going on: “The NLRB filed a notice of appeal over U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker’s March ruling, which granted summary judgment” to business organizations.

• Under a final rule issued by the NLRB last October, companies would be considered “joint employers” of franchise and contract workers if they have control over certain working conditions, such as schedule, pay and supervision—even if that control is indirect or goes unused.
• Business groups sued the NLRB last November and called on the court to stop enforcement. Barker ruled in the groups’ favor, vacating the rule.
• The NLRB said it would appeal the ruling to the 5th Circuit.

In related news: President Biden last Friday vetoed a congressional resolution to repeal the “joint employer” rule.

Our view: The rule could make it more difficult for manufacturers to hire temporary workers, which could “create new disruptions in the workplace” and “exacerbate manufacturers’ ability to respond to changing market demands, including efforts to address acute workforce needs,” the NAM told the NLRB in December 2022.

• There is a persistent manufacturing labor shortage. In fact, if current trends continue, more than 1.9 million of the up to 3.8 million jobs the U.S. is expected to need between now and 2033 are likely to go unfilled, according to a recent joint study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s 501(c)3 workforce development and education affiliate.