FIN 240 ch 34

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

The act imposes on employers a general duty to keep the workplace safe.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

The act requires these employers to provide sixty days' notice before implementing a mass layoff or closing a plant that employs more than fifty full-time workers. A mass layoff is a layoff of at least one-third of the full-time employees at a particular job site.

vesting

The creation of an absolute or unconditional right or power.

tipped workers

The employer is required to pay only $2.13 an hour in direct wages—if that amount, plus the tips received, equals at least the federal minimum wage. If an employee's tips and direct wages do not equal the federal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The main purpose of this federal statute was to help consumers maintain their insurance coverage, but it also includes a separate set of provisions called Administrative Simplification -4 main purposes: Privacy of health information, security of electronic records, administrative simplification, and insurance portability

collective bargaining

The process by which labor and management negotiate the terms and conditions of employment, including working hours and workplace conditions.

union elections

The process for determining whether or not a bargaining unit of employees will be represented by a Union -at least 30% of workers must be represented in election -proposed union must represent an appropriate bargaining unit

I-9 Verification

The process of verifying the employment eligibility and identity of a new worker. It must be completed within three days after the worker commences employment.

Arizona v. United States

(3) Do federal immigration laws deny Arizona's law attempting to remove aliens from the state? Yes on most parts, however legally detained individuals may be checked for citizenship - police can't just stop anyone for citizen check.

child labor

-Children under fourteen years of age are allowed to do only certain types of work. They can deliver newspapers, work for their parents, and be employed in entertainment and (with some exceptions) agriculture -Children aged fourteen and fifteen are allowed to work, but not in hazardous occupations. There are also restrictions on how many hours per day and per week children in these age groups can work. -Working times and hours are not restricted for persons between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, but they cannot be employed in hazardous jobs. None of these restrictions apply to those over the age of eighteen

Notices, Records, and Reports of OSHA

-employers w/ 11+ employees are required to keep occupational injury and illness records for each employee which must be made available for inspection -when work injury or illness occurs, employers must make reports directly to osha

exceptions to employment at will based on public policy

-most common -made on the basis that the employer's reason for firing the employee violates a fundamental public policy of the jurisdiction. -The public-policy exception may apply to an employee discharged for whistleblowing

Independent Contractor

-worker performs work that is outside employers business -independently established trade -work for more than one person

remedies from violation of FMLA

1. Damages to compensate the employee for lost wages and benefits, denied compensation, and actual monetary losses (such as the cost of providing care for a family member). Compensatory damages are available up to an amount equivalent to the employee's wages for twelve weeks. 2. Job reinstatement. 3. Promotion, if a promotion has been denied.

unfair labor practices

1. Interference with the efforts of employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations or to engage in concerted activities for their mutual aid or protection. 2. An employer's domination of a labor organization or contribution of financial or other support to it. 3. Discrimination in the hiring of or the awarding of tenure to employees for reason of union affiliation. 4. Discrimination against employees for filing charges under the act or giving testimony under the act. 5. Refusal to bargain collectively with the duly designated representative of the employees.

requirements to recover benefits under state workers' compensation laws are:

1. The existence of an employment relationship. 2. An accidental injury that occurred on the job or in the course of employment, regardless of fault. (An injury that occurs while an employee is commuting to or from work usually is not covered because it did not occur on the job or in the course of employment.)

an eligible employee can take up to 12 weeks of leave w/n a 12 month period for any of the following reasons:

1. To care for a newborn baby within one year of birth. 2. To care for an adopted or foster child within one year of the time the child is placed with the employee. 3. To care for the employee's spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition. 4. If the employee suffers from a serious health condition and is unable to perform the essential functions of her or his job. 5. For any qualifying exigency (nonmedical emergency) arising out of the fact that the employee's spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on active duty.Footnote For instance, an employee can take leave to arrange for child care or to deal with financial or legal matters when a spouse is being deployed overseas.

illegal strikes

1. Violent strikes. The use of violence (including the threat of violence) against management employees or substitute workers is illegal. 2. Massed picketing. If the strikers form a barrier and deny management or other nonunion workers access to the plant, the strike is illegal. 3. Sit-down strikes. Strikes in which employees simply stay in the plant without working are illegal. 4. No-strike clause. A strike may be illegal if it contravenes a no-strike clause that was in the previous collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the union. 5. Secondary boycotts. A secondary boycott is an illegal strike that is directed against someone other than the strikers' employer, such as companies that sell materials to the employer. 6. Wildcat strikes. A wildcat strike occurs when a small number of workers, perhaps dissatisfied with a union's representation, call their own strike. The union is the exclusive bargaining representative of a group of workers, and only the union can call a strike. Therefore, a wildcat strike, unauthorized by the certified union, is illegal.

authorization card

A card signed by an employee that gives a union permission to act on his or her behalf in negotiations with management.

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.

I-551 Alien Registration Receipt

A document, known as a "green card," that shows that a foreign-born individual can legally work in the United States.

medicare

A federal program of health insurance for persons 65 years of age and older

Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA)

A federal system of old-age, survivors, disability and health-care insurance (Medicare) which requires employers to withhold (or transfer) wages from employees' paychecks and deposit that money in designated accounts.

union shop

A firm that requires all workers, once employed, to become union members within a specified period of time as a condition of their continued employment.

closed shop

A firm that requires union membership by its workers as a condition of employment

right-to-work laws

A state law providing that employees may not be required to join a union as a condition of retaining employment.

electronic monitoring

A technique of probation supervision in which the offender's whereabouts are kept under surveillance by an electronic device.

exceptions to employment at will based on tort will

Abusive discharge procedures may result in a lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress or defamation

Employee Polygraph Protection Act

Act that generally prevents employers engaged in or affecting interstate commerce from using lie detector tests either for preemployment screening or during the course of employment, with certain exemptions.

Norris-LaGuardia Act

Act that guarantees workers' right to organize and restricts issuance of court injunctions against nonviolent union activity such as strikes, picketing, and boycotts.

H-1B Visa

Allows U.S. employers to employ in the United States, foreign nationals who are skilled in specialty occupations -An employer who wishes to submit an H-1B application must first file a Labor Certification application on a form known as ETA 9035

lockout

An action in which an employer shuts down to prevent employees from working, typically because it cannot reach a collective bargaining agreement with the employees' union.

strike

An action undertaken by unionized workers when collective bargaining fails. The workers leave their jobs, refuse to work, and (typically) picket the employer's workplace. -right to strike is guaranteed by NLRA

cease and desist order

An administrative or judicial order prohibiting a person or business firm from conducting activities that an agency or court has deemed illegal.

wrongful discharge

An employer's termination of an employee's employment in violation of the law or an employment contract.

Affordable Care Act

An expansion of medicaid, most of employers must provide health insurance, have insurance or face surtax, prevents rejection based on pre-existing condition. Also referred to as "Obamacare", signed into law in 2010.

hot-cargo agreement

An illegal agreement in which employers voluntarily agree with unions not to handle, use, or deal in the nonunion-produced goods of other employers.

Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

Federal law requiring employers to verify and maintain records on applicants' legal rights to work in the United States -enacted in 1986

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Federal law that increased the responsibility of pension plan trustees to protect retirees, established certain rights related to vesting and portability, and created the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation

good faith bargaining

Generally means that parties in a negotiation enter into discussion with fair and open minds and a sincere desire to arrive at an agreement.

benefits and FMLA leave

Healthcare coverage, restored to original or comparable position once employee returns, company can recover benefits if employee does NOT return

Workers' Compensation versus Litigation

If an employee accepts workers' compensation benefits, he or she may not sue for injuries caused by the employer's negligence.

OSHA inspections

OSHA compliance officers may enter and inspect the facilities of any establishment covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Under the act, 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.

Labor Management Relations Act

Passed in 1947 to limit union power; also known as the Taft-Hartley Act -establishes employee bill of rights -prohibits requiring union membership as employment

exceptions to employment at will based on contract theory

Some courts have held that an IMPLIED employment contract exists between the employer and the employee. If the employee is fired outside the terms of the implied contract, he or she may succeed in an action for breach of contract even though no written employment contract exists.

Workers' Compensation Laws

State statutes that establish an administrative process for compensating workers for injuries that arise in the course of their employment, regardless of fault.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

U.S act that provides employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for family members or because of a serious health condition of the employee.

Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)

a federal act imposed upon each employer for financing the administration costs of the federal and state unemployment compensation programs.

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

aimed at eliminating corruption in labor unions and established an employee bill of rights and reporting requirements for union activities

how may an american employer hire a foreign worker

an employer must show that no US worker is qualified, willing, and able to take the job

Walsh-Healey Act

applies to U.S. government contracts. It requires that a minimum wage, as well as 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.

Social Security Act

created a tax on workers and employers. That money provided monthly pensions for retired people/survivors/disability insurance

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

enables employees to continue, for a limited time, their health-care coverage after they are no longer eligible for group health-insurance plans. The workers—not the employers—pay the premiums for the continued coverage.

National Labor Relations Board

enforces procedures whereby employees may vote to have a union and for collective bargaining. prevents employers from engaging in unfair and illegal union activities and has power to investigate employees.

Fair Labor Standards Act

extended wage-hour requirements to cover all employers engaged in interstate commerce or in producing goods for interstate commerce. Certain other types of businesses were included as well. The FLSA, as amended, provides the most comprehensive federal regulation of wages and hours today.

National Labor Relations Act

law passed in 1935 This act established the rights of employees to engage in collective bargaining and to strike.

minimum wage

lowest legal wage that can be paid to most workers -$7.25 per hour

Workers Protected by the NLRA

must be an employee or a job applicant. Individuals who are hired by a union to organize a company (union organizers) are also to be considered employees of the company for NLRA purposes.

E visas

permit the entry of certain foreign investors or entrepreneurs.

Immigration Act

placed caps on the number of visas (entry permits) that can be issued to immigrants each year, including employment-based visas

electronic communications privacy act

prohibits employers from intercepting an employee's personal electronic communications unless they are made on devices and systems furnished by the employer.

O visas

provide entry for persons who have "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim

H-2 Visas

provide for workers performing agricultural labor of a seasonal nature

Davis-Bacon Act

requires contractors and subcontractors working on federal government construction projects to pay "prevailing wages" to their employees

Overtime Provisions

sets rate of overtime pay (1.5x reg pay after 40 hours), sets workweek as any fixed/reoccurring period of 168 consecutive hours (7 daysx24 hours), requires overtime on time work not time compensated, requires overtime to be paid in money

whistleblowing

the act of an employee exposing an employer's wrongdoing to outsiders, such as the media or government regulatory agencies

featherbedding

the practice of negotiating labor contracts that keep unnecessary workers on a company's payroll -prohibited

L visas

visas allow a company's foreign managers or executives to work inside the United States