Overview Of United States Labor Laws

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Overview OfUnited States Labor Laws

• Heller Ehrman LLPJames R. Hays

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The Employer-EmployeeRelationship Is Among
TheMost Regulated Of All Areas
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Fair Employment Practices Acts

• Federal Laws
• State Laws
• Local Laws

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Federal Laws

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Americans With Disability Act
• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
• Laws Affecting Federal Contractors

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Title VII of the CivilRights Act of 1964

• A person engaged in an industry affecting
  commerce who has fifteen or more employees for
  each working day in each of twenty or more
  calendar weeks in the current or proceeding
  calendar year.

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Title VII of the CivilRights Act of 1964

• Under Title VII, an employer may not discriminate
  against an individual on the basis of an
  individuals race, color, religion, sex,
  pregnancy or national origin.
• Title VII expressly prohibits discrimination in
  connection with the hiring and discharge of an
  employee and with respect to his or her
  compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of
  employment.

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Title VII of the CivilRights Act of 1964

• An employer may not limit, segregate or
  classify employees based on any of the
  prohibited categories listed above, if doing so
  would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of
  employment opportunities or otherwise affect his
  or her status as an employee.

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Age Discrimination inEmployment Act

• A person engaged in an industry affecting
  commerce who has twenty or more employer for each
  working day in each of twenty or more calendar
  weeks in the current or proceeding calendar year.

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Age Discrimination inEmployment Act

• The ADEA prohibits an employer from
  discriminating against employees or prospective
  employees age 40 and older.
• An employer may not refuse to hire, discharge, or
  otherwise discriminate against an individual with
  respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or
  privileges of employment on the basis of the
  individuals age.

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Age Discrimination inEmployment Act

• An employer also may not, on the basis of the
  individuals age, limit, segregate or classify
  employees when doing so would deprive or tend to
  deprive an individual of employment opportunities.

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Americans WithDisabilities Act

• A person engaged in an industry affecting
  commerce who has fifteen or more employees for
  each working day in each of twenty or more
  calendar weeks in the current or proceeding
  calendar year.

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The Americans WithDisabilities Act

• An employer may not discriminate against a
  qualified individual with a disability because
  of such disability in regard to job application
  procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge,
  compensation, training and other terms and
  conditions and privileges of employment.
• Failure to make reasonable accommodations for the
  employee or denying employment to avoid having to
  make such reasonable accommodations.

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The Americans WithDisabilities Act

• HOWEVER, an employer need not accommodate an
  individuals disability if to do so would impose
  an undue hardship on the operation of the
  employers business.

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State Laws

• State Fair Employment Practices Law
• Sexual Orientation
• Martial Status
• Arrest Records
• Child Care Responsibilities

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Basic Principles of EqualEmployment Opportunity

• Applications and employees with equal
  qualifications, skills and abilities must be
  treated equally
• Employers must be able to provide valid
  business-related reasons for adverse employment
  actions against applicants and employees in a
  protected class
• Standards that appear to be neutral and apply to
  all applicants may still be discriminatory if
  they impact heavily on protected classes

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Basic Principles of EqualEmployment Opportunity

• Employment decisions based on stereotypes usually
  led to unlawful results
• Exception to the rule of equal treatment
  reasonable accommodations required for
  religious practices and the disabled

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Workplace Harassment

• Sexual Harassment
• Other Harrassment

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Sexual HarassmentThe Legal Definition

• Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual advance,
  request for sexual favors, or other verbal or
  physical conduct of a sexual nature. Such
  unwelcome conduct is considered illegal if
• Submission to or rejection of the conduct is made
  explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of
  employment

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Sexual HarassmentThe Legal Definition

• Submission to or rejection of the conduct by the
  individual is used or threatened to be used as
  the basis for employment decisions such as
  hiring, promotion, pay, or termination or
• The conduct has the purpose or effect of
  unreasonably interfering with an individuals
  work performance or creating an intimidating,
  hostile, or offensive work environment.

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Other Types ofWorkplace Harassment

• Workplace harassment is characterized by any
  derogatory, abusive, threatening or intimidating
  behavior, and/or reference to attributes of race,
  color, religion, national origin, citizenship
  status, age, marital status, sexual orientation,
  or disability. Prohibited harassment includes,
  but are not limited to
• Intentionally making performance of the
  employees job more difficult because of the
  employees race, color, religion, national
  origin, citizenship status, age, martial status,
  sexual orientation or disability

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Other Types ofWorkplace Harassment

• Severe or pervasive use of ethnic slurs and
  insults, or other verbally abusive, threatening
  or intimidating behavior
• Physically abusive, threatening or intimidating
  behavior based on one of the aforementioned
  attributes.

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Hiring Issues

• Recruitment Process
• Testing (Skills and Medical)
• Background Checks
• Training Interviewer

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Offer Letters/Employment Contract

• Legal Requirements
• Why Have/Why Avoid
• At-Will Employment Statement
• Reserve Right To Change Terms/Conditions

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Offer Letters/Employment Contract

• Outline Job Duties
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Salary/Hourly Wage Rate
• Benefits
• Employee Handbook
• Restrictive Covenants

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Employee Handbook

• Legal Requirements
• Why Have/Why Avoid

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Job Description

• Legal Requirements
• Why Have/Why Avoid
• Updating

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Employee Handbook

• At-Will Statement
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Workplace Harassment
• Work Rules
• Family and Medical Leave
• Internet/Email Usage
• Confidentiality Statement

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Job Description

• Job Title
• Responsibilities
• Necessary Skills
• Required Experience
• Required Credentials

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Payroll Issues

• Exempt/Non-Exempt Status

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The White Collar Exemptions

• Executive Employee
• Administrative Employee
• Professional Employee
• Computer Employee
• Highly Compensated Employee

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Overtime Pay

• Time and one-half of employees regular rate for
  all hours worked in excess of forty hours in a
  given work week.

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Leaves of Absence

• Family and Medical Leave
• Disability Leave
• Workers Compensation Leave
• ADA Reasonable Accommodation Leave
• Military Leave

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Family and Medical Leave

• Any person engaged in commerce or in industry or
  activity affecting commerce who employs fifty or
  more employees for each working day during each
  of 20 or more calendar work weeks in the current
  or proceeding calendar year.

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Family and Medical Leave

• Employee Eligibility
• 12 Months of Employment
• 1,250 Hours Worked

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Family and Medical Leave

• Employee Right
• 12 weeks of employment protected unpaid leave
  during 12 month period

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Family and Medical Leave

• Reasons for Leave
• Birth or Care of Child/Foster Child/Adoption
• Care for immediate family member with serious
  medical condition
• Care for own serious medical condition

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Americans with Disability Act Reasonable
Accommodation Leave

• Any change in the work environment or in the way
  the job is performed that enables a person with a
  disability to perform his or her job

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Termination Issues

• Fair Employment Practices Acts
• Legal Liability
• Progressive Discipline
• Employment References

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Fair Employment Practices Acts

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Americans With Disability Act
• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
• Laws Affecting Federal Contractors

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Liability

• Reinstatement
• Back Pay
• Compensating Pay
• Front Pay
• Punitive Damages
• Attorneys Fees

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Progressive Discipline

• The ACT method of effective performance
  management techniques
• Accurate
• Constructive
• Timely

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Employment References

• Dates of Employment
• Positions Held

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An Overview OfUnited States Labor Laws

• Heller Ehrman LLP
• James R. Hays

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