Chapter 15 Law and Ethics in the Workplace

National Labor Relations Act

A 1935 law, also known as the Wagner Act, that guarantees workers broad rights to organize and bargain collectively with their employer. Also provides the right to engage in concerted efforts and activities such as strikes and picket lines.

Why has healthcare seen an increasing development in union activity?

A combination of the cost containment measures employed by hospitals and the decrease in reimbursement brought about by various prospective payment systems

Jury System Improvements Act

A law that protects persons who serve on federal juries from discharge, intimidation, or coercion by their employers

functional limitation

A physical or mental limitation of a major life activity caused by a disability.

qualification

A special skill, knowledge, or ability that enables a person to perform a particular job

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Prevents and employer from discharging an employee who would otherwise attain immediate vested pension rights or who exercised her rights under ERISA

Federal Railroad Safety Act and the Federal Employer's Liability Act

Prohibit employers from firing an employee who files a complaint, furnishes facts, or testifies about a railroad accident

Equal Pay Act of 1963

Prohibits an employer from paying the workers of one sex less than the rate paid to the opposite sex for jobs substantially similar or identical in skill, effort, and responsibility and performed under similar working conditions.

True of False: Antidiscrimination laws serve to promote the ethical concepts of justice and rights

True

True or False: As a general rule, the strictest law is the law that takes precedence over the other laws in any given situation.

True

True or False: Ethics and law often intersect, as many ethical principles form the basis of many employment laws

True

What obligations does the law impose on individuals classified as employees?

Verify the identity and employment authorization of every employee.

hostile work environment

a form of sexual harassment in which unwelcome and demeaning sexually related behavior creates an intimidating and offensive work environment

disability

a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

quid pro quo sexual harassment

a situation in which an employee is offered a reward or is threatened with punishment based on his or her participation in a sexual activity

Undue Hardship

an accommodation for the disabled that would result in significant difficulty or expense given the employer's size and financial resources

Reasonable Accommodation

an employer's obligation to do something to enable an otherwise qualified person to perform a job

National Labor Relations Board

an independent agency of the United States government charged with mediating disputes between management and labor unions

Utilitarianism

idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people

genetic discrimination

the use of genetic information by employers, insurance companies, and others to discriminate against or stigmatize people

Reasonable Accommodation Process

-Submission of request -Determine and individuals qualification -Substantiating the disability and need for accommodation -Potential Reasonable accommodation -Select and provide reasonable accommodation

Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA)

Act that amended ADEA to include all employee benefits; also provided terminated employees with time to consider group termination or retirement programs and consult an attorney.

Consumer Credit Protection Act

Act that limits the amount of wages that can be garnished or withheld in any one week by an employer to satisfy creditors.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

Act that prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of their genetic information in both employment and health insurance.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Act that prohibits discrimination in employment for persons age 40 and over except where age is a bona fide occupational qualification.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions.

Employee

An individual hired by another, such as a business firm, to work for wages or a salary

labor union

An organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members

How do antidiscrimination laws apply to ethics?

Anti-discrimination laws are based on the ethical concepts of justice and rights. Justice requires treating all people with fairness, while the concept of rights addresses a just claim or entitlement that others are obliged to respect. Anti-discrimination laws build on both of these concepts by creating standards that require applying fair treatment to all employees plus providing a basis upon which an employee may seek redress in a court of law.

Workplace barrier

Any workplace obstacle, whether physical or procedural, that prevents an employee from performing the duties of the job, whether those duties are considered essential or marginal.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Bans discrimination in compensation, terms, and conditions of employment based on race, religion, color, sex, or national origin

Executive Order 11246

Bars discrimination in federal government employment and mandates each executive department and agency to maintain equal employment opportunity programs

Americans with Disabilities Act

Bars employment discrimination against qualified individuals with a disability and requires employers to provide qualified individuals with reasonable accommodations to assist them in performing the essential functions of the job, absent a financial hardship to the employer

Three-step process disability

Determine qualifications Disability Reasonable accommodations

What does E-Verify do?

Determine the employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security Number

In addition to using the I-9 form, employers may participate in which federal government program?

E-Verify

Who should the leased employee look to for benefits?

Employee must look to the service firm and not to the client business or organization for benefits such as unemployment insurance compensation

leased employees

Employees of a leasing agency who are hired and trained for the client firm through the agency. Withholding, depositing, and reporting responsibilities remain with the leasing agency. Also known as temporary employee

Exempt employees

Employees who are excluded from U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Employers must offer their employees up to a total of 12 weeks of leave during a 12 month period for the birth of a child or the placement of a child through adoptions or foster care; a serious health condition of the employee; or to care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

At-will employment

Employment arrangement that allows the employer to terminate the employee at any time and allows the employee to leave the employer at any time

What does the Wagner Act ban?

Employment discrimination to discourage unionization, employer dominations of unions, and an employers refusal to bargain in good faith with a union

What is employment?

Employment is the process of providing work, engaging services or labor, and paying for the work performed.

Wages

Hourly rate of pay

1. How does the employer-employee relationship differ from the employer-independent contractor relationship?

In the employer-employee relationship, the employer has control over the means, manner, and methods of completing work, along with the end result or product of that work. In the employer-independent contractor relationship, the level of control exercised by a business or organization is limited to the results or products of the independent contractors' work.

Serious health condition

Injury, illness, impairment, or physical or mental condition requiring either inpatient care at a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, or continuing treatment by a heath care provider

Why is the term "permanent employee" not used anymore?

It implies that an employee has some right to stay with the business or organization indefinitely without change

Substantially equal

Jobs or work performed under similar working conditions and requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility.

What is a labor union and what does it do?

Labor unions are groups of employees joined together to protect their jobs, seek improvements in working conditions, and create a formal method to communicate with the employer as a group that had not been accomplished individually

collective bargaining

Negotiations between representatives of labor unions and management to determine pay and acceptable working conditions.

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and the Military Selective Service Act

Offer protections to veterans and military personnel who are called up for short-term emergency duty or extended reserve duty

Regular employee

One who has a continuing relationship with an employer; sometimes referred to as a common law employee.

Statutory Employee

One who has been designated by specific laws as subject to the tax-withholding requirements imposed upon employers but who might not otherwise be considered an employee.

Salary

Rate of pay given on a weekly, monthly, or yearly schedule

Types of Employees

Regular employee Full time employee part time employee leased employee independent contractor statutory employee

Sexual Harassment Guidelines

Require the employer to maintain a sexual-harassment-free environment

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

Requires employers 60 days of warning before closing offices or beginning a massive layoff

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Sets mandatory standards for safety health for all employees in general industry, maritime operations, construction, and agriculture.

What does the at-will employment doctrine allow employer and employees to do?

The at-will employment doctrine allows employers to hire, terminate, promote, or demote an employee as well as allowing employees to leave the employer at any time.

How can the content of an employer's handbook affect the employment-at-will doctrine?

The content of an employer's handbook may create an implied contract or employment, thereby limiting the employer's rights to hire, fire, promote, or demote.

Head of the executive branch in the state system?

The governor

What is the most challenging aspect of the ADA for an employer to comply with? Why?

The most challenging aspect of the ADA for an employer to comply with is determining the reasonable accommodations or qualified individuals with disabilities without incurring undue hardship to the employer.

Head of the executive branch in the federal system?

The president

Employers

Those persons, businesses, or organizations that provide the work, engage the services or labor, and pay for the work performed.

Wage inequities between the genders for equal work are prohibited by which Acts?

Title VII Equal Pay Act Fair Labor Standard Act

Which Acts are all private employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations in the US affected by?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and its subsequent amendments, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991

Independent Contractor

one who contracts to perform certain tasks for a set fee, but who is independent of the control of the contracting party as a means by which the contract is executed, except for specifications established in the contract

Part-time employee

one who works a schedule with either fewer hours each day or fewer than 30 hours each week.

physical examination

physician's objective assessment of the patient, using auscultation, palpation, percussion, and visualization

Human Genome Project

project whose goal is to map, sequence, and identify all of the genes in the human genome

Full-time employee

regularly works a schedule of 30 hours or more a week

living wage laws

require employers to pay employees more than the federal minimum wage