The U.S. Department of Labor just dropped a proposal that could redraw the lines of corporate responsibility for America’s workforce. On April 22, 2026, the agency’s Wage and Hour Division unveiled a notice of proposed rulemaking to set a uniform national standard for joint employer status. This move targets inconsistencies across federal courts, where rulings on who shares liability for wages, overtime, and leave have splintered for years. Franchisors. Contractors. Staffing firms. All stand to feel the shift. Picture a fast-food chain like McDonald’s, overseeing hundreds of franchise outlets. Under current patchwork interpretations, a franchisor might dodge blame for a franchisee’s wage slip-up in Texas but eat the liability in California. The DOL’s fix? A clear test splitting joint employment into vertical and horizontal buckets. Vertical covers setups where an intermediary employer—like a staffing agency—sits between the worker and the end client.…