What are the obligations of a Brightstar Care franchisee in responding to client complaints?
Brightstar_Care Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
gistered Nurse). If you operate more than one Agency, we reserve the right to require a full-time registered nurse, as well as additional nursing resources, to fulfill the nurse oversight requirements for the client count based on their acuity. You have sole responsibility and authority for your labor relations and employment practices, including, among other things, employee selection, promotion, termination, hours worked, rates of pay, benefits, work assigned, discipline, adjustments of grievances and complaints, and working conditions. Agency employees are exclusively under your control at the Agency. We will not, directly or indirectly, exercise or reserve control over employment and personnel matters and decisions involving your Agency's employees. You must communicate clearly with Agency employees in your employment agreements, human resource manuals, written and electronic correspondence, paychecks, and other materials that you (and only you) are their employer and that we, as the franchisor of BrightStar Agencies, and our affiliates are not their employer or joint employer and do not engage in any employer-type activities (including those described above) for which only franchisees are responsible.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 117–118)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Brightstar Care's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees have sole responsibility and authority for handling adjustments of grievances and complaints. This extends to all employment practices, including employee selection, promotion, termination, hours worked, rates of pay, benefits, work assigned, discipline, and working conditions. Brightstar Care franchisees operate independently in these matters.
Brightstar Care emphasizes that agency employees are exclusively under the franchisee's control. The franchisor, Brightstar Care, explicitly states that it will not directly or indirectly exercise or reserve control over employment and personnel matters involving the franchisee's agency employees. This reinforces the franchisee's autonomy in managing their workforce and addressing any complaints that may arise.
To ensure clarity, Brightstar Care requires franchisees to communicate clearly with agency employees. This communication must be present in employment agreements, human resource manuals, written and electronic correspondence, paychecks, and other materials. The franchisee must explicitly state that they (and only they) are the employer and that Brightstar Care, as the franchisor, is not their employer or joint employer and does not engage in any employer-type activities for which only franchisees are responsible. Franchisees must also obtain an acknowledgment from all agency employees confirming this understanding.