Employment Law
Employers and employees must know and understand employment law.
Employees should know their rights and businesses should know what is
required of them by law.
What is Employment Law?
Employment regulations derive from laws passed by Congress, state legislatures, and
local governing bodies.
- Employment laws protect workers' rights, promote safe work environments, and
prevent discrimination.
- Focuses on fair treatment in the workplace, of all people.
Four Categories of Employment Law
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Total Rewards
- Workplace Safety and Health
- Labor Relations
Equal Employment Opportunity: These laws prohibit job discrimination within the
workplace. For these laws to stay current, two agencies help regulate equal
employment opportunities, the EEOC and the OFCCP
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission oversees compliance and is
responsible for developing guidelines with anti-discrimination Laws
- Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is responsible for making
sure all employers who do business with the Federal Government comply with
the nondiscrimination laws.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act outlaws employment discrimination based on
demographics.
- Age
- Race
- Sex
- Religion
- Color
- Country Origin
- Disabilities
- Veteran Status
- Pregnancy
- Genetic Information
- Sexual Orientation
- Family Responsibility
- Gender Identity
- Marital or Relationship Status
- Political Opinion
- Trade Union Activity
Discrimination in the Workplace
Equal Opportunity should prevent people from discriminating, but that doesn't
mean it always happens.
- Being Treated Differently
- Harassment
- Verbally/Physically
- Not getting hired based on demographics
- Being denied:
- Compensation or benefits
- Disability Leave
- Retirement Options
- Maternity leave
- Getting hired/fired based on personal characteristics
- Paying women less than men
- Promoting employees based on their race or age
- Etc.
What happens if there is discrimination in the workplace?
It can be hard to prove that you have been discriminated against in the workplace, but it
happened and can be proven by:
- Documenting situations
- Collect evidence
- File a complaint to the EEOC/OFCCP
- Contact an Attorney
If there is discrimination in the workplace, depending on who was involved, or the
severity of it, the following can happen to those who were discriminating:
- Warning or counseling
- Termination
- Sued
- Jail Time
Total Rewards
Some laws control compensation and benefits through local, state, and federal
government regulations.
Businesses should develop and have a total rewards strategy in place for their
employees.
5 important acts were created by legislation to impact how employees are paid to
this day.
- 1931: Davis Bacon Act
- 1936: Welsh-Healey Act
- 1938: Fair Labor Standards Act
- 1963: Equal Pay Act
- 2009: Fair Pay Act
Fair Labor Standards Act sets standards for minimum wage, overtime pay,
recordkeeping, and child labor laws.
- These standards impact more than 130 million workers
Equal Pay Act was put into place so there is equal pay amongst men and women
- This act was passed in 1963, but there still seems to be a gender pay gap.
- As of 2021, Forbes stated women make 82 cents for every dollar a man makes
Fair Pay Act is an extension of the Equal Pay Act and requires employers to make sure
they are paid equally and not discriminating by keeping records to prove this.
Workplace Safety and Health laws help keep employees free from harm.
- Consist of state and federal regulation
- Created to try and reduce any risk of illnesses, accidents, etc. in the workplace
- Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a federal agency responsible
for ensuring workers are kept healthy and safe while in the workplace.
- Worker’s compensation law is a system of rules that requires the employer to
pay the expenses of employees who are harmed while working on the job
- Recover lost wages
- Pay for medical expenses
- Help pay disability payments
- Pay for rehab
- Etc.
What happens if businesses don’t follow safety and health laws?
If accidents ever happen in the workplace, government agents are able to investigate
the violations and can issue citations for non-compliance.
- Non-compliance means the failure to comply with something.
Anyone who willfully or repeatedly does not abide by these laws can heave the following
happen to them, depending on severity:
- Fines
- Lose Job or business
- Jail time/criminal penalties
Labor Relations helps maintain relationships with employees and allow them to
participate in making decisions that impact their rights, duties, and welfare.
- Help management develop, maintain, and improve employer relationships. This
is done through communication, training, and help handle disputes or grievances,
performance evaluations, etc.
- Created to try and make the workplace run as smoothly as possible by
recognizing employees for their hard work, and by preventing and resolving
problems in the workplace.
U.S. Labor law is made up of the National Labor Code which is made of these
three acts that focus on the relationships between management and unions.
- 1935: Wagner Act
- 1947: Taft-Harley Act
- 1959: Landrum-Griffin Act
It’s not only important but required for businesses to know how to treat
employees. It’s also critical for employees to know how they should be treated in
the workplace. Therefore all business professionals should learn and know
business law.
