On June 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit provided guidance as to what test should be applied to assess potential joint employer liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act in In re Enterprise Rent-A-Car Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litigation , No. 11-2883, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13229 (3d Cir. June 28, 2012). The Third Circuit’s decision provides a helpful roadmap to employers seeking to better position their organizations to avoid joint employer liability.
Plaintiff Nickolas Hickton filed a nationwide collective action alleging that Enterprise’s branch managers and assistant branch managers were misclassified as exempt employees under the FLSA. After several other cases from around the country were transferred and consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint narrowing the scope of their claims, which were asserted on behalf of themselves and all other current and former assistant branch managers of Enterprise locations.
