This particular issue has seen extension after extension for public comment.
There is a good chance that with these delayed notification deliveries to
interested parties there are still outstanding comments.
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The letter is below:
Dear Chairman Scott and Chairwoman Wilson: (click here)
Thank you for your letter of March 14, 2019, regarding concerns over reports that the National Labor Relations Board intends to outsource review of public comments received in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the joint-employer standard. I would share your concern about a private contractor performing the substantive review of comments in this important matter, particularly with respect to appearance of conflicts of interest and undermining confidence in the Board's deliberative process. It appears, however, that you were misinformed, and I very much regret that this misunderstanding created unnecessary alarm. The Board has not outsourced, and will not outsource, the substantive review of the joint-employer rulemaking comments. We are in the process of compiling the specific information your letter requested, and a supplemental response to your letter will be provided. In the meantime, and to promptly allay any concerns, I want to fully explain the Board's plans for reviewing the comments submitted in response to the joint-employer NPRM.
Preliminarily, I am pleased to report that the response to the NPRM has been outstanding. As we have publicly reported, the Agency received nearly 29,000 comments from interested organizations, unions, academics, business owners and individual workers all over the United States. This level of participation confirms the importance of the Board's rulemaking on the joint-employer standard, and we look forward to giving full consideration to all comments received.
To ensure each public comment submitted to the Board is appropriately reviewed and considered, we have decided to engage temporary support on a limited, short-term basis to perform the initial sorting and coding of the public comments. This support work will be provided through a GSA-approved temporary employment agency, contracted through the GSA bid process and taking all conflict-of-interest issues into consideration. We will ensure, of course, that appropriate confidentiality protections are in place. Again, I emphasize that this work, which will be overseen by NLRB staff, will not involve any substantive, deliberative review of the comments but will be limited to sorting comments into categories in preparation fOr their substantive review. The Agency's own labor-law professionals will perform the first substantive review of the comments, in aid of the Board's exercise of its deliberative functions in connection with the overall rulemaking process....
Washington, DC — Earlier today, Chairman John F. Ring responded to a March 14, 2019 letter from Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Chairwoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL) regarding the Agency’s planned process for review of comments submitted in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the joint-employer standard.
A copy of Chairman Ring’s letter is available here.
Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employers and employees from unfair labor practices, and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year.
Dear Chairman Scott and Chairwoman Wilson: (click here)
Thank you for your letter of March 14, 2019, regarding concerns over reports that the National Labor Relations Board intends to outsource review of public comments received in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the joint-employer standard. I would share your concern about a private contractor performing the substantive review of comments in this important matter, particularly with respect to appearance of conflicts of interest and undermining confidence in the Board's deliberative process. It appears, however, that you were misinformed, and I very much regret that this misunderstanding created unnecessary alarm. The Board has not outsourced, and will not outsource, the substantive review of the joint-employer rulemaking comments. We are in the process of compiling the specific information your letter requested, and a supplemental response to your letter will be provided. In the meantime, and to promptly allay any concerns, I want to fully explain the Board's plans for reviewing the comments submitted in response to the joint-employer NPRM.
Preliminarily, I am pleased to report that the response to the NPRM has been outstanding. As we have publicly reported, the Agency received nearly 29,000 comments from interested organizations, unions, academics, business owners and individual workers all over the United States. This level of participation confirms the importance of the Board's rulemaking on the joint-employer standard, and we look forward to giving full consideration to all comments received.
To ensure each public comment submitted to the Board is appropriately reviewed and considered, we have decided to engage temporary support on a limited, short-term basis to perform the initial sorting and coding of the public comments. This support work will be provided through a GSA-approved temporary employment agency, contracted through the GSA bid process and taking all conflict-of-interest issues into consideration. We will ensure, of course, that appropriate confidentiality protections are in place. Again, I emphasize that this work, which will be overseen by NLRB staff, will not involve any substantive, deliberative review of the comments but will be limited to sorting comments into categories in preparation fOr their substantive review. The Agency's own labor-law professionals will perform the first substantive review of the comments, in aid of the Board's exercise of its deliberative functions in connection with the overall rulemaking process....
Date announcement arrived at inbox: Sat, May 4, 4:29 PM (1 day ago)
The National Labor Relations Board is extending the time for submitting comments regarding its proposed rulemaking to address its joint-employer standard for an additional 30 days. The submission window is currently open and interested parties may now file comments on or before Monday, January 14, 2019. Comments replying to the comments submitted during the initial comment period must be received by the Board on or before January 22, 2019....
Date notification arrived to inbox: May 4, 2019, 4:27 PM (1 day ago)
In light of the unique circumstance presented by the December 28, 2018 issuance by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit of its decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California v. NLRB, --- F.3d ---, 2018 WL 6816542, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) is extending the time for submitting comments regarding its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on joint-employer status in order to permit issues raised by that decision to be addressed. Comments must now be received on or before January 28, 2019. Comments replying to the comments submitted during the initial comment period must be received by the NLRB on or before February 11, 2019....
