Ch. 20 Employment Law

Employers with ____ or more employees are required to keep occupational injury and illness records for each employee

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Employment at Will

A common law doctrine under which either party may terminate an employment relationship *at any time*, *for any reason*, unless a contract specifies otherwise.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period for certain medical, family or military situations

Employee Privacy Protection

Employees of private employers have some privacy protection under tort law and state constitutions. • state and federal statutes may also limit an employer's conduct in certain respects

HIPPA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act • restricts the manner in which employers collect, use, and disclose the health information of employees and their families

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

If employees are informed that they will be monitored, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy • courts typically hold that employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using an employer-provided communication system (such as e-mail)

COBRA

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act enables employees to continue their health-care coverage for a limited time after they are no longer eligible for group health-insurance plans • termination of employment may be voluntary or involuntary • workers pay the premiums

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

Created to protect worker and health. Its main aim was to ensure that employers provide their workers with an environment free from dangers to their safety and health, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions.

Private Retirement Plans

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Electronic Monitoring

More than half of employers use some sort of electronic monitoring of employees.

Lie-Detector Tests

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act generally prohibits employers from requiring employees or job applicants to take lie-detector tests • also restricts employers' ability to use or ask about the results of any lie-detector test or to take any negative employment action based on the results.

Minimum Wage

The FLSA provides that a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour must be paid to covered nonexempt employees

Overtime Provisions and Exemptions

Under the FLSA, any employee who works more than forty hours per week must be paid no less than 1.5 times his/her regular wage for all hours over forty.

Tax Contributions

Under the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) both employers and employees contribute to Social Security and Medicare • basis for Social Security is the employee's annual maximum wage base • tax rate was 12.4% • medicare tax rate is 2.9% • each person pays 7.65%

Medicare

a federal government health insurance program for people 65 or older and some under 65 who are disabled

Inspections OSHA

an employer cannot discharge an employee who files a complaint or who (in good faith) refuses to work in a high-risk area if bodily harm or death might result

Walsh-Healey Act

applies to U.S. government contracts requires: • a minimum wage • overtime pay at 1.5 times regular pay rates be paid to employees of manufacturers or suppliers entering into contracts with agencies of the federal government.

Exceptions to Employment at Will Doctrine

contract theory, tort theory, public policy

Benefits and Protections of FMLA

employees must be restored to their original or comparable position with nearly equivalent pay and benefits unless they are "key" employees

Employer-Sponsored Group Health Plans

employers must designate privacy officials, distribute privacy notices, and train employees to ensure that employees' health information is not disclosed to unauthorized partie

State Workers' Compensation Laws

establish administrative procedures for compensating workers injured on the job • instead of suing for injuries, a work is compensated • minors are covered

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

extended wage-hour requirements to cover all employers engaged in interstate commerce or in producing goods for interstate commerce

Public Employers

government (public) employers are constrained in drug testing by the 4th Amendment

Drug Testing

many employers require their employees to submit to drug testing in the interests of public safety

Exceptions Based on Public Policy

most common exception to employment at will doctrine is that worker was terminated for reasons that violate a clearly stated fundamental public policy of the jurisdiction • generally, courts require that the public policy involved be expressed clearly in the statutory law governing the jurisdiction • ex: whistleblowing

Social Security

provides retirement income and disability benefits

Income Security

social security, medicare, tax contribution,

Private Employers

the 4th Amendment does not apply to drug testing conducted by private employers

Unemployment Insurance

the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)

Layoffs

the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act: • 60-day notice before a mass layoff during 30-day period, which results in workforce loss of: - At least 33% of fifty (50) full-time employees at a single job site - At least 500 full-time employees

Notices, Records, and Reports

the act required that employers post certain notices in the workplace, maintain specific records and submit reports • whenever a work-related injury or disease occurs, employers must make reports directly to OSHA

Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

the act requires most employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer health-insurance benefits • any business offering health benefits to its employees may be eligible for tax credits up to 35% • "50/30" Rule: an employer who fails to provide health benefits can be fined up to $2,000 for each employee after the first 30 people • an employer that offers a plan more than 9.5% of the employee's income may be penalized

Tipped Workers

the employer is required to pay only $2.13 an hour • if that amount + tips = at least federal minimum wage • if not equal, employer must make up difference

Wrongful Discharge

when an employer discharges an employee in violation of an employment contract or a statutory law protecting employees

Violations of FMLA

• Damages to compensate an employee for lost wages and benefits, denied compensation, and actual monetary losses • Job reinstatement • Promotion, if one has been denied

Exceptions Based on Tort Theory

• Discharge of an employee may give rise to an action for wrongful discharge under tort theories. • Abusive discharge procedures may result in a lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress or defamation.

Requirements for Receiving Workers' Compensation

• The existence of an employment relationship • An accidental injury that occurred on the job or in the course of employment, regardless of fault

Coverage and Applicability of the FMLA

• requires employers with over 50 employees to provide 12 weeks unpaid leave to employees who need to care for a spouse, child, or parent suffering with a serious medical condition -Serious injuries or military duty can take up to 26 weeks

Exceptions Based on Contract Theory

• some courts hold that an *implied* employment contract exists between employer and employee -> • if the employee is fired outside the terms of the implied contract, she/he may succeed in an action for breach of contract even though no written contract exists

Child Labor

• the FLSA prohibits oppressive child labor • children under 14 may work only in agriculture and entertainment • 14 and 15 year olds are permitted to work limited hours in nonhazardous jobs • 16 and 17 year olds may work unlimited hours in nonhazardous jobs