PARTIES; DEFINITIONS; WHO IS AN EMPLOYER? – Joint Employer, Single Employer, and Alter Ego Doctrines

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Multiple entities have a joint-employer relationship if each entity has at least a partial right to control certain employment conditions or direct the manner and method in which work is performed. (County of Ventura (2018) PERB Decision No. 2600-M, pp. 28-29.) In assessing a single-employer claim, in contrast, PERB looks at four factors: (1) functional integration of operations; (2) centralized control of labor relations; (3) common management; and (4) common ownership or common financial control. (Id. at p. 18.) Single employer status does not require the presence of all four factors. (Ibid.) PERB’s inquiry considers not only how many factors are present, but also to what extent they are present. (Id. at p. 19.) The four factors assist PERB in analyzing the practical realities to determine whether requiring bargaining on a single-employer basis will foster fair and effective collective bargaining by bringing to the table the parties who are able to work out difficult issues and foster harmonious labor relations. (Id. at pp. 22, 25 & fn. 29.) (pp. 35-36.)