You want every location to feel the same. Your lawyer wants you to stay out of your franchisee's HR file. Where's the line?
Franchise attorney Lee Plave of Plave Koch joins Katherine to break down the American Franchise Act (HR 5267) and the question underneath it: when does a franchisor cross from setting brand standards into being a joint employer of their franchisee's staff — and what happens when they do?
Lee came out of the Federal Trade Commission and has spent decades representing franchisors at every scale, from IHG, Hilton and 7-Eleven to brands that sold their first unit last month. In this conversation he lays out the rule that keeps franchisors on the right side of the line — standardize the output, not the input — and explains why the most cautious legal advice, "don't train them, don't talk to them," is both self-defeating and, in some businesses, genuinely unsafe.
In this episode:
- What vicarious liability and joint employer status actually mean for a growing brand
- What the American Franchise Act is trying to codify, and why it exists now
- The output-versus-input rule, and how to apply it to your own brand standards
- Why cheap franchise documents are the most expensive purchase you'll make
- How to spot an agreement that came off a document mill or out of an AI
- What to do instead of directing your franchisee's employees
- Why one rogue franchisee damages the other ninety-nine, not just the brand
Katherine LeBlanc and James Vitrano have spent a combined 40+ years in the trenches of franchising — across marketing, operations, legal, and franchise development — working with brands at every stage of growth. They've sat in the rooms where the hard calls get made, and they're not shy about sharing what they've seen work and what they've watched blow up.
Katherine works with franchisors through Apollo CMO, stepping in as the strategic marketing resource brands need when growth gets ahead of the marketing function. If this one hit close to home, reach out.
Want to go deeper?
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▶️ @KatherineLeBlanc_Franchise on YouTube
🔗 linkedin.com/in/katherineleblanc
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katherine@apollocmo.comWhat is Dear Frannie: Franchise Growth, Leadership and Scaling Advice?
Dear Frannie is the franchise advice column you didn't know you needed. Hosted by Katherine LeBlanc, Fractional CMO, and James Vitrano, Franchise Operator, each episode tackles one real question franchisors are quietly wrestling with - from franchisee adoption and growth friction to leadership blind spots and operational scale.
No panels. No keynote speak. No fluff. Just two people who've been inside franchise systems answering the questions brand leaders are afraid to ask out loud.
If you're a franchisor navigating the messy middle of scale - this show was made for you.
New episodes drop bi-weekly. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.