On March 10, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued a request for information seeking public comment on franchise agreements and franchisor business practices, including how franchisors may exert control over franchisees and their workers. The FTC is interested in how franchisors disclose certain aspects and contractual terms of the franchise relationship, as well as the scope, application, and effect of those aspects and contractual terms.
As part of the Request for Information, the FTC is asking franchisors, franchisees, current and past employees of franchisors and franchisees, government entities, economists, attorneys, academics, consumers, and other interested parties to weigh in on a wide array of issues that affect franchisees and their workers.
Comments may be submitted at regulations.gov and must be received no later than June 8, 2023. To ensure the Commission considers your online comment, please follow the instructions on the web-based form. Your comment – including your name and your state – will be placed on the public record, including, to the extent practicable, on the https://www.regulations.gov website. You may view submitted comments at https://www.regulations.gov at any time.
Because your comment will be placed on the public record, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential information. In particular, your comment should not contain sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else’s Social Security number; date of birth; driver’s license number or other state identification number or foreign country equivalent; passport number; financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure your comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment should not include any “[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential” – as provided in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2) – including in particular competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. Anonymized or industry-wide information is not considered competitively sensitive.
Need help? See Regulations.gov’s FAQs for more information.