HR - Important Laws

Immigration and Nationality Act (1952)

Addresses employment eligiblity and employment verification; ID's an "alien" as a person lacking citizenship or status as a national of the U.S.; resident or nonresident, immigrant or nonimmigrant, documented or undocumented; defines conditions for the temporary and permanent employment in US

Revenue Act (1978)

Adds two important sections to the Tax Code relevant to employee benefits: Sections 125 and 401(k), and flexible spending accounts

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996)

All states must establish and maintain a new hire reporting system to enhance enforcement of child support; requires welfare recipients to begin working after 2 years of receiving benefits; parents with children younger than one may be exempt in some states, but only for one child; 5-yr time limit for cash assistance also applies to these parents

Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972)

Amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by redefining terms; required a new employment poster for all subject work locations explaining EEO is law; gives authority to sure in federal courts when EEOC finds reasonable cause to believe there has been employment discrimination

FFA Modernization and Reform Act (2012)

Amendment to Railway Labor Act; change union certification election processes in RRs and airline industries and impose greater oversight of the regulatory activities of the National Mediation Board; NMB must be audited every two years

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (2009)

Anyone with custody of personal health records send notification to affected individuals if their records have been disclosed, or possibly disclosed, to an unauthorized person

Equal Pay Act (amendment to FLSA) (1963)

Applies to all employers; enforced by EEOC; prohibits employers from wage discrimination on the basis of sex for work on jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility and performed in similar working conditions

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (2010)

Applies to employers with 50 or more full-time employees; covered employers must either provide min health insurance to their full-time employees or face a $2k penalty per employee; offers tax credited for employers with fewer than 25 employees offering benefits;

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

Bans employment discrimination based on age if the employee is 40 years old or older unless necessary for the job; airline pilots may not fly commercial planes after age 65

Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (1990)

Before 1980, reduction programs made to address expenses would target senior workers as their compensation would usually be higher than newer workers; prohibit the employer from using employee's age as the basis for discrimination in benefits, targeting older workers in down-sizing; requiring older workers to waive their rights without the opportunity for review with a legal advisor

Consumer Credit Protection Act (1968)

Congress gave limits to the amount of wages that can be garnished or withheld in any one week by an employer to satisfy creditors; prohibits employee dismissal because of garnishment

Social Security Act (1935)

Created Social Security program to assist senior citizens, but has since included children and disabled people; supported through payroll taxes (rates set by Federal Insurance Contributions Act); federal old-age benefits, survivors benefits, medicare and medicaid, etc

Wagner-Peyser Act (1933) (Amended by Workforce Investment Act 1988)

Created a nationwide system of employment offices known as Employment Services Offices; these offices provide job seekers with assistance in their employment search and recruitment services for employers;

Executive Order 11246 (Affirmative Action) (1965)

Created employment-based affirmative action; if a company wanted to receive revenue by contracting with the federal government, it would have to implement equal employment opportunity and establish outreach programs for minorities and women; outreach and recruiting were the main attempts; necessary for government contracts

The Trademark Act (1946)

Created federal protections for trademarks and service marks; set forth requirements for registering a trademark or service mark to obtain legal protections; HR can help properly govern these uses

Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002)

Created for the oversight and disclosure of information by publicly traded companies in response to corruption in the financial industry; holds corporate officers accountable for proper record-keeping and reporting of financial information; protects whistleblowers; enforcement is overseen by private company Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

Tax Reform Act (1986)

Created new savings programs to lower their tax payments

Civil Service Reform Act (1978)

Created three new agencies: Office of Personnel Management (executive branch's HR Dept.), Merit System Protection Board (prohibits consideration of marital status, political activity, or political affiliation in dealing with federal civilian employees, created Office of Special Counsel), created Federal Labor Relations Authority (agency that enforces federal civilian employees right to form unions and bargain with other agencies; establishes standards of behavior for union officers, and standards enforced by Office of Labor-Management Standards)

Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (1974) (as Amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act)

Current covered veterans include: disabled veterans, veterans who served on active duty during a war or campaign, recently separated veterans, awarded an Armed Service medal; requirements apply to all federal contractors with a contract valued at $25,000 or more

Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978)

Defined pregnancy as protected within the definition of 'sex' for coverage under the Civil Rights Act; no employer shall illegally discriminate against an employee because of pregnancy; defines pregnancy as a temp disability and requires accommodation; guarantees the employee rights to return to work to the same or similar job with the same pay following pregnancy disability

Portal-toPortal Act (1947)

Defines "hours worked" and establishes rules about payment of wages to employees who travel before and/or after their scheduled work shift; provides that min wages and overtime are not required for traveling

Homeland Security Act (2002)

Dept. of Homeland Security was created to protect US geography; ICE is part of this department; system is intended to assist in rapid verification of Social Security numbers and confirm that the individual attached to it is authorized to work in the US

Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Sex (1980)

EEOC published these guidelines to help employers understand what constituted unwanted behavior and harassment; issued long before the U.S Supreme Court considered the leading cases on sexual harassment

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Ensures that individuals who leave or lose their jobs can get health coverage even if they or someone in their family has a serious illness or injury or is pregnant; limits exclusions for preexisting conditions and guarantees renewability of coverage, allowing people to change jobs w/o worry of coverage loss; prohibits actively-at-work requirements as preconditions

FLSA Provisions and Protections

Enterprise provisions: public agencies, private with gross sales over $500k, school for mentally or physically disabled or gifted children; prohibits shipment of good in interstate commerce that were produced in violation to these laws (violated min wage, overtime pay, etc.); some exempt employees can be granted overtime pay if the company has provisions for it; each covered non-exempt employee must have accurate records; workplace poster must notify employees of federal min wage

Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978)

Essential to prevent claims of discrimination; guidelines require all steps in a hiring decision be validated for the job being filled; determines validity of selection device; include oral and written test, an interview, etc.; if you cannot prove the text measures things required by your job content, don't use the test

Unemployment Compensation Amendments (1992)

Established 20% as the amount to be withheld from payment of employee savings account when leaving an employer and not placing the funds into another tax-approved IRA or 401(k)

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) (1935)

Established National Labor Relations Board; provided that employees have a right to form unions and negotiate wage and hour issues with employees on behalf of the union; protects employees against unfair labor practices; unionize, good faith bargaining, covers non-management in private sector

Mine Safety and Health Act (1977)

Established mandatory mine safety and health standards and created MSHA; brought coal, metal, and nonmetal mining ops under same jurisdiction; employees must be given protective equipment, maintain exposure records

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) (1970)

Establishes minimum health and safety standards in organizations; created OSH Administration; records must be kept for safety and health hazards and how material should be handled; for serious cases, incident reports must be filed and kept for 5 years;

Service Contract Act (1965)

Extends prevailing wage rates and benefit requirements to employers providing services under federal government contracts in excess of $2,500; for federal contractors and subcontractors

Executive Order 13706: Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors (2015)

Federal contractors are directed to provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave annually; accrued at the rate of an hour for every 30 hours worked.

Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986)

Federal law requiring employers to verify and maintain records on applicants' legal rights to work in the United States; prove identity and their right to work in US; created the I-9 Form

Pension Protection Act (2006)

Federal law that imposes additional funding and disclosure requirements on employers who have employee pension plans; underfunded pension plans to pay a higher premium

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

First federal action against monopolies and trusts like Standard Oil; break up the trusts and monopolies, and outlaws attempts to restrict competition; it was first misused AGAINST labor unions

Fair Credit Reporting Act (1970) (amended in 2011)

First major legislation to regulate the use of consumer information; require notification if credit report will be used in hiring decision, and employee must give written authorization before report can be run

USA Patriot Act (2001)

Gives the government authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism, computer fraud and abuse offenses; also provides the authorization for collecting agencies to share the info they collect in interest of law enforcement; HR may find themselves involved in handling the collection and release of personal info

The Walsh-Healey Act (Public Contracts Act) (1936)

Guarantees prevailing wages to employees of government contractors with contracts of $10,000 or more; for manufacturers and suppliers of goods for federal government contracts; overtime pay for over 8/hrs per day (this was later excluded) or over 40/hrs per week; prevailing wage; cannot be under 16

IRS Immediate Sanctions (2002)

Guidelines for determining reasonable compensation for executives of non-profit organizations; allows IRS to impose penalties when it determines that top officials have received excessive compensation

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010)

Includes a wide range of mandates affecting all federal financial regulatory agencies and almost every part of the nation's financial service industry; includes non-binding vote for shareholders on an executive compensation, golden parachutes, etc.; includes requirements to report CEO pay compared to average employee pay

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)

Introduced 44 hr, 7 day work week; established national min wage, guaranteed time and a half for overtime in certain jobs (over 40 hrs/week); prohibited most child labor; first law to require employers to maintain records on employee race and sex

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (1988)

Involved local communities early in the private sector's downsizing process; prevented employers from just shutting the door and walking away with no worker benefits; permanent or temporary shut down of a single site, or a facility in a single site, for any 30 day period for 50 or more employees; requires 60 day notice before plants close; does not count if end of a contract; not required if 50 to 499 workers lose their job and that number is less than 33% of the active workforce in a site

Small Business Job Protection Act (1996)

Law increased federal min wage levels and provided tax incentives to small business owners to protect jobs and increase take-home pay; created SIMPLE 401(k) to make pension plans easier for small businesses; education incentive, Work Opportunity Tax Credit, and provided a tax credit for child adoption

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin Act) (1959)

Law outlines procedures for redressing internal union problems; protects the rights of union members from corrupt or discriminatory labor unions and applies to all labor organizations; unions must have secret elections, bill of rights for unions, convicted felons and members of Communist Party cannot hold office in unions, financial reporting, standards for union disciplinary action

Davis-Bacon Act (1931)

Law requires contractors and subcontractors on certain federally funded or assisted construction projects worth more than $2k in the U.S. to pay wages and fringe benefits at least equal to those prevailing in the local area where work is performed; only applies to laborers and mechanics, and not to trainees or apprentices

Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (2000)

Mandated record-keeping for all needlestick and sharps injuries; created standards for handling and disposing "sharps," and hopefully facilitating the creation of devices that would lessen these chances; OSHA amendment for medical community

Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (2001)

Modifications to the Internal Revenue Code that adjust pension vesting schedules, increasing retirement plan limits, permitting pre-tax catch up contributions by participants older than 50 in certain plans

Civil Rights Act (1991)

Modified the Civil Rights Act of 1964; employees can receive a jury trial if wanted; establishes requirements for employer defense; placed limitations on punitive damage awards by using a sliding scale depending on the size of the employer organization (15-100 = $50k; 100-200 = 100k; 201-500 = 200K; more than 500 = 300k)

Copyright Act (1976)

Offers protection of "original works" for authors so other may not print, duplicate, distribute, or sell their work; Copyright Term Extension Act (1998) furthered it to the duration of author's life plus 70 yrs for general; can either extend to employer or employee who created the content; written agreements are helpful

National Defense Authorization Act (2008)

Origin of benefit provisions for leaves of absence due to military reasons; qualifying events include notice of deployment, return from deployment, treatment for injury; provision is for 26 weeks.

Railway Labor Act (1926)

Originally to allow railway employees to organize in labor unions but now covers airlines too; allowed for 90-day cooling off period to prevent strikes in national emergencies

Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley) (1947)

Placed controls on unions; prohibits unfair labor practices by unions and outlaws closed shops (where union membership is required to work that job); no closed shop agreements; covers non-management employees in private industry who aren't covered by the Railway Labor Act

Copeland "Anti-Kickback" Act (1934)

Precludes a federal contractor or subcontractor from in any way inducing an employee to give up any part of their wages to the employer for the benefit of having a job

Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932)

Prohibited "yellow-dog" contracts the employees would sign promising employers they would not join unions; prohibited federal courts form issuing injunctions against strikes, boycotts or picketing; defined labor dispute to include any disagreement about working conditions

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1997)

Prohibits American companies from making bribe payments to foreign officials to obtain or keep business; goes for employees as well

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (2008)

Prohibits employers from using genetic information to make employment decisions; was brought about by insurance companies using genetic info to determine who would likely have expensive diseases in the future which had allowed decisions to exclude them from hiring or enrollment in medical insurance programs

Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988)

Prohibits use of lie detector tests for job applicants and employees of companies engaged in interstate commerce; exceptions are made for law enforcement and national security

National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)

Proposed creation of Codes of Fair Competition for different industries and temporarily suspend anti-trust laws; businesses could have their licenses suspended if they did not join/accept the codes; declared Unconstitutional and replaced by NLRA

False Claims Act (1863)

Provides a percentage of recovered damages to anyone who identifies a claim that the federal government may have against a contractor (whistleblower rewards); do not create records that are inaccurate or fictitious

Work Opportunity Tax Credit (1996)

Provides federal income tax credits to employers who hire from targeted groups of job seekers who face employment barriers (current is $9.6k); groups include those on TANF, veterans on food stamps, ex-felons, SNAP recipients

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (2003)

Provides for certain requirements in third-party investigations of employee misconduct charges; employers are released from obligations to disclose requirements and obtain employee consent if the investigation involves suspected misconduct, a violation of the law or regulations, or a violation of preexisting written employer policies

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (1959)

Provides for reporting and disclosure of certain financial transactions and administrative practices of labor organizations and employers to prevent abuses with respect to the election of officers of labor organizations; created labor organization's Bill of Rights

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) (1994)

Provides instructions for handling employees who are in the reserves and receive orders to report to active duty; protects those who voluntarily or involuntarily serves with employment or reemployment; employer must continue to pay benefits for them and dependents; does have a time limit between when an individual gets out of service to when they can contact for reemployment

Retirement Equity Act (1984)

Provides legal protections for spousal beneficiaries of quailed retirement programs; prohibits changes to plan elections, spousal beneficiary designations, etc. without the consent of a spouse

Privacy Act (1974)

Provides that governmental agencies must make known to the public their data collection and storage activities and must provide copies of pertinent records to the individual citizens when requested, with some exemptions; government is prohibited from releasing private information to third parties without authorization or a court order

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (1993)

Reduces compensation limits in qualified retirement programs and triggers increased activity in non-qualified retirement programs

Rehabilitation Act (1973) (amended 1980)

Replaced Vocational Rehabilitation Act and created support for states to create vocational rehab programs; requires nondiscrimination and affirmative action in hiring disabled workers by federal agencies and provide reasonable accommodation for the disabled

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

Requires employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment; provides for federally funded state programs to assist people in this category; became effective for all employers in 1992

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (1986)

Requires employers with group health insurance programs to offer terminating employees the opportunity to continue their health plan coverage after they are no longer on payroll or no longer qualify for benefits coverage because of a change in employment status; cost must be at a group rates, and the employer can add a small administrative service charge

Mental Health Parity Act (1996)

Requires health insurance issuers and group health plans to adopt the same annual and lifetime dollar limits for mental health benefits as for any other medical benefits

Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (2008)

Requires plans that offer both medical/surgical benefits and mental health and/or substance abuse treatment benefits provide parity between both types of benefits; all financial requirements and treatment requirements must be the same for treatment of both mental and physical medical problems

Drug-Free Workplace Act (1998)

Requires some Federal contractors and all Federal grantees to agree that they will provide drug-free workplaces as a precondition of receiving a contract or grant from a Federal agency; all employees working on the contract or grant must be in compliance with the drug-free requirements; any federal contractor under the jurisdiction of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs; employee notification about the policy must include information about the consequences of failing a drug test; policy must be published in writing; each employee must be given the policy (does not legally have to sign it, but it's a good idea); must contain a list of prohibited substances; must also have drug-free counseling and records must be kept; any person who fails must be referred to a treatment program; failure to maintain a drug-free workplace may result in suspension of payments for contract activities, suspension of grant, up to 5 yrs prohibition for any further grants/contracts

ADA Amendments Act (2008)

Retains the basic definition of "disability" under the ADA; expands the definition of "major life activities" by including two lists: activities such as walking and some not-specifically recognized EEOC activities such as bending, communicating, and reading, the second list includes major bodily functions; the definition of disability should be interpreted in favor of broad coverage of individuals to maximum extent permitted; even if under medicated control, disabilities would still be considered disabilities

American Recovery And Reinvestment Act (2009)

Thrust was to create government infrastructure projects such as highways, buildings, dams and such to reemploy many of the workers who had become unemployed due to the great recession; also applies HIPAA's security and privacy requirements to business associates

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986)

Two pieces of legislation: Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act; provides rules for access, use, disclosure, interpretation, and privacy protections of electronic communications; provides the possibility of both civil and criminal penalties for violations; prohibits interception of e-mails and access to e-mails in storage; implications for HR have to do with recording employee conversations; employees must also be notified if being recorded by employers

Congressional Accountability Act (1995)

Until this law was applied, the legislative branch of the government was exempt from nearly all employment-related requirements that applied to other fed agencies and private employers; requires Congress and affiliates to abide by: Americans with Disabilities, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Employee Polygraph, Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, Rehabilitation Act, Civil Rights Act (Title VII), Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, OSHA, Veterans Employment Opportunities Act, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

Securities and Echange Act (1934)

When companies issue common stock for trade, it's on the primary market; this law provides governance for secondary market, or trading after initial public offering; created the Securities and Exchange Commission which oversees stock trades; extends disclosure doctrine

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (2009)

amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 stating that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (1974)

law doesn't require employers to establish pension, but governs how the established plans are managed; establishes uniform minimum standards to ensure that employee benefit plans are maintained in a fair and financially sound manner; protects employees covered by a pension plan from losses in benefits due to job changes, closings, bankruptcies, etc.

The Clayton Act (1994)

modified Sherman Anti-Trust Act; prohibits mergers and acquisitions that would lessen competition; prohibits individual from being director of 2 or more competing corporations; restricts use of injunctions against labor and legalizes peaceful strikes, picketing, and boycotts

Civil Rights Act (Title VII) (1964)

prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, or national origin; penalties assessed by federal courts after complaint is filed with EEOC; penalties can be actual damages, compensatory damages, or punitive damages

Family and Medical Leave Act (1993)

requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family and medical emergencies; must have 50 employees or more; 12-month period begins on first day of leave, then next will be available 12 months from when the first began; employees must have more than 1 year of service, employee is guaranteed to return to same job; is 26 weeks for military; employment poster requirement