How Has Employment Law Changed Franchising

In recent years, franchise and employment law have converged in new ways and created additional legal and business considerations for franchise systems. To understand the current state of franchise law, it is now necessary to take into account issues like misclassification, joint employment, and organized labor and consider state and federal statutes and regulatory action. Pending state legislation and potential regulation could change how franchise companies do business. In addition, other employment law issues potentially impact franchising, including workplace mobility laws like covenants not to compete and anti-poaching policies, vicarious liability, disability access laws, and laws requiring pay data reporting and posting of pay scales in job postings. Traditional brand controls and uniform standards intended to enhance consumer experience across a franchise system may be in tension with local employment laws like worker dress code and appearance standards and mandating that franchisees use specific point-of-sale software for time-tracking, labor scheduling, and payroll functions. With franchise and employment laws more frequently colliding, franchisors need to understand best practices for information sharing.

Other Speakers: 

Andrew Murphy, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Jonathan Solish, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Rochelle Spandorf, Davis wright Tremaine LLP

For more information, view the agenda.