Franchisees Welcome President Trump's Support on Joint Employer

The Coalition to Save Local Businesses (CSLB), a group of local small business owners, franchise brands, and industry associations, welcomed President Donald Trump highlighting the importance of a clear, consistent joint-employer standard during an event in Washington, D.C.: 

"President Trump has always been a champion of small businesses, and we're grateful for his support, especially on joint employer," said Clint Ehlers, who owns and operates Fastsigns locations in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. "After the longest federal government shutdown in history, it's time for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to come together and help create a regulatory climate with more predictability and certainty. The American Franchise Act would help me plan and create more opportunity—now is the time to get it done."

"Opening and running your own business is full of uncertainty," added Mitch Cohen, franchisee of Jersey Mike's and Sola Salons, chairman of the 2026 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, and IFA board member. "By settling the joint-employer issue once and for all that President Trump referenced, the American Franchise Act offers entrepreneurs like me hope that the rug is not going to be pulled out from underneath us during future administrations. The benefits of franchising are countless, and the American Franchise Act will unlock opportunities for even more aspiring entrepreneurs across the country." 

"We appreciate President Trump's long-standing support for franchising through a commonsense joint-employer standard, and we stand ready to work with his administration and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers to make it a reality through the American Franchise Act," said Matt Haller, IFA president and CEO. "Franchising is a business model that knows no political, socioeconomic or ideological boundaries and is a force for economic opportunity that has provided upward mobility to so many. With the federal government re-open, now is the time for lawmakers to get back to business, moving forward with the American Franchise Act to recognize that franchises are small businesses, and their independence must be protected by federal law." 

Introduced in September, H.R.5267, the American Franchise Act (AFA) would codify the joint-employer standard in the franchise context that determines when two entities share responsibility for the same employees. The joint-employer standard has changed four times over the past 10 years with every change in power in the White House. The implementation of the 2015 standard drove up legal costs by 93% and cost an estimated 376,000 American jobs.