1982 was a great year for music. Not only did it give us “867-5309 (Jenny)” by Tommy Tutone and “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell, but if you look a little harder, you’ll also notice that several releases that year contained important hidden messages about joint employment.

On one hand, you had the opposers, like “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” in which Hall & Oates were staying away from every action that could lead to a finding of joint employment. Wanna hear a little known fact I just made up? Here were the original opening lines from the song:

Easy, ready, willing, overtime
Where does it stop, where do you dare me to draw the line?
You sent me staffing temps, now you want me to exert control
Don’t even think about it, say no go

Rick Springfield offered some tips about keeping outsourced workers separated from your primary workforce. When you supervise, schedule, direct, and hire/fire someone else’s employees, you’re increasing the likelihood of joint employment. (More info here.) Tip for management: “Don’t Talk to Strangers.”

Hey temp worker, are you feeling left out because we won’t hire/fire, schedule, control your work, set your pay, or maintain your employment records? You’ll get no sympathy from Quarterflash. “Harden My Heart.”

On the other hand, there’s a counter-intuitive approach toward joint employment that I sometimes advocate. If you already know you’re a joint employer based on the facts, then you might choose to embrace it. In other words, avoid the harms. Make sure the workers properly record their time, take their meal and rest breaks, and don’t work off the clock. (Read more here.)

You’ve got to pretty sure you’re already a joint employer to adopt the “Open Arms” strategy, advocated by Journey and supported by Fleetwood Mac in “Hold Me.”

I’ll write more about the Embrace Joint Employment strategy in upcoming posts. It’s a question I am asked about a lot, probably because it’s the opposite of what everyone is generally told.

So maybe Kenny Loggins was right when he advised “Don’t Fight It”?

© 2024 Todd Lebowitz, posted on WhoIsMyEmployee.com, Exploring Issues of Independent Contractor Misclassification and Joint Employment. All rights reserved.