SMALL BUSINESS FREEDOM IS IN JEOPARDY.
Franchising fuels over 831,000 local businesses, creating jobs and opportunity in every corner of America – but that opportunity is consistently under threat.
Franchise owners have faced over a decade of inconsistent, heavy-handed regulations that have singled out their businesses and put their American Dream at risk.
Congress must act now! Passing a clear joint employer standard is essential to protect local businesses, strengthen our economy, and keep entrepreneurship alive.
Tell Congress: Keep the American dream local. Protect small businesses.
FIX THE LAW OR RISK THEIR LIVELIHOOD.
Franchisees are independent business owners running retail stores, gyms, salons, restaurants, and much more. Franchise businesses are locally owned and community grown. But the rules that govern them keep changing.
The joint employer standard, which defines when two businesses share responsibility for employees, is fundamental to the success of the franchise model. But this standard has changed four times in 10 years, creating chaos and risk for local business owners.
Now, a pending lawsuit could change the standard again.
This uncertainty is killing jobs, stalling growth, and putting local business in jeopardy.
Congress must act now to protect small businesses and enable their future growth. We need to defend these independent entrepreneurs who are united by opportunity.
Who we are
The Coalition to Save Local Businesses is a broad alliance of locally owned, independent businesses, associations, and organizations united in support of a fair, consistent, and transparent joint employer standard that reaffirms the independence of local franchise owners.
For over a decade, America’s small businesses have been whipsawed by shifting regulations and policy reversals. It’s time entrepreneurs and the workers who rely on them receive the stability they deserve.
The Coalition urges Congress to enact clear, common-sense legislation that affirms a fundamental truth: franchisees are independent small business owners, not employees of the franchisor. At the same time, franchisors must retain the ability to support their franchisees and uphold brand standards without triggering unwarranted legal liability. This clarity is essential to protect jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and preserve the integrity of the franchise model.
We need a bipartisan, bicameral legislative effort to clarify the joint employer standard once and for all, establishing a law consistent with historical precedent and the current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) standard, defining an employer as having “direct and immediate control.”
Protect the people who took a chance on themselves, their employees, and their communities.