1. EMPLOYMENT LAW

2. Learning Goal To be able to identify situations that fall outside the doctrine of Employment-at- Will.

3. Employment-at-Will Employer is allowed to discharge an employee at any time, for any or no reason, with or without notice General rule in most states Employees not free to leave would be considered slaves Doesn’t apply in certain situations

4. Unionized Employees Union  Organization of employees formed to promote the welfare of its members  Includes a Collective Bargaining Agreement A contract agreed on by the Employer & the Labor Union

5. Collective Bargaining Agreements Issues Concerning:  Working conditions  Wages  Benefits  Job security  Layoffs  Firing Policies  Grievance Procedures

6. Grievance Procedures:  Establishes a series of steps that an employee must follow to appeal the decision of an employer who may have violated the collective bargaining agreement. Collective Bargaining Agreements

7. Layoffs & Plant Closings  Due to Economic conditions, Union’s cannot guarantee an employee a job for life  Severance pay can be included in CBA  Set amount of money paid during unemployement  Calculated by: Position Salary Variety of other factors

8. Layoffs & Plant Closings Federal Government Legislation:  WARN: Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act Requires 60 day advance notice Companies with more than 100 workers Ex: O’Sullivan’s in Lamar, MO

9. Illegal Discrimination Civil Rights Act of 1964  Race  Color  Creed  National Origin  Gender  Age

10. EMPLOYERS  Rights & Duties include:  Regular pay  Safe work environment  Appropriate job training  Opportunities for raises & promotions  Safe tools  Able to make reasonable complaints

11. EMPLOYEES  Rights & Duties  Experience, Education, & Skills  Reasonable amount of work in a reasonable amount of time  Loyal  Honest  Dependable  Abide by the rules

12. Exceptions to Employment-at-Will  Wrongful Discharge  Provides employees with grounds for legal action  5 Standards for considering unjust termination Promissory estoppel Implied contract Public policy tort Intentional infliction of emotional distress Implied covenant

13. 1. Promissory Estoppel 4 Elements: 1. Employer makes a promise that the employee is expected to rely upon 2. Employee relies upon the promise & does or doesn’t do something 3. Employee ordinarily would not have acted or refrained from acting had it not been for the promise 4. Employee is harmed by the employer’s failure to honor the promise

14. 2. Implied Contract When an employer has said, written, or done something to lead the employee to reasonably believe that he or she is not an at-will employee.

15. 3. Public Policy Tort No one should be allowed to do anything that tends to hurt the public at large.

16. 4. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress  If the discharge of an employee caused severe mental and emotional trauma, the employee could bring a lawsuit.  Must be extremely outrageous to qualify

17. 5. Implied Covenant Based on an implied promise that the employer & employee will be fair & honest with one another

18. Learning Goal To be able to identify situations that fall outside the doctrine of Employment-at- Will.

19. EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

20. Learning Goal To be able to identify Employment Legislation, including Child Labor Laws

21. Wagner Act  1 st law establishing guidelines for determining which employment concerns had to be included in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  wages, hours, & conditions

22. Taft-Hartley Act Created to equalize the power of labor and management.  Unions must provide a 60-day notice before a strike  President may stop a strike!

23. Taft-Hartley Act  Closed shop – Must be a Union member before being hired Illegal  Union shop –Must join the Union within 30 days after being hired Allowed in some states  Featherbedding – Union assigning more employees to a job than needed Illegal

24. Landrum-Griffin Act  Created to stop corruption in Unions  Must register constitutions & bylaws  Submit yearly financial reports  “Bill of Rights”

25. Employment of Minors In the industrial revolution, children were often exploited by employers.  Dangerous work  Low wages  Thus Child Labor Laws were established

26. Child Labor Laws  States:  Limited hours worked  Cannot be around dangerous machinery  Allow for work permits  Federal:  No trade allowed for any goods produced with “oppressive child labor”

27. Learning Goal To be able to identify Employment Legislation, including Child Labor Laws

28. EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION

29. 3 Areas  Health & Safety  Fair wages & benefits  Privacy rights

30. Health & Safety  OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration)  Federal agency that sets safety & health standards for U.S. companies  All businesses engaged in interstate commerce must meet OSHA standards

31. OSHA Inspections  Done randomly  When Death, Disaster, or Complaint filed  Cannot be fired for a complaint!

32. Fair Wages & Benefits  Wage & Hour Law  Requires certain employers to pay their employees a legal minimum hourly wage rate, plus time-and-a-half for work in excess of 40 hours per week.

33. Fair Wages & Benefits  Equal Pay Rule (Act)  States that employers must pay women the same rate of pay as men holding the same type of job

34. Fair Wages & Benefits  Pension Plan  Program established by an employer or a union that is designed to provide income to employees after they retire

35. Fair Wages & Benefits  Family & Medical Leave Act  Employees entitled to 12 weeks of leave: Birth or adoption of a child Spouse, child, or parent with serious medical conditions Must work for 1 year

36. Fair Wages & Benefits  Social Security  Gov’t program that provides continuing but limited income to workers & their dependents Funded by employee & employer  Receive when: Earnings stop or reduce Retirement Death Disabled

37. Fair Wages & Benefits  Unemployment Compensation  System of gov’t payments to people who are out of work & looking for a job

38. Fair Wages & Benefits  Worker’s Compensation  Insurance program that provides income for workers who are injured or who develop a disability or disease as a result of their job

39. Privacy Rights  Drug-Free Workplace Act  Regulates employee drug testing

40. Privacy Rights  Employee Polygraph Protection Act  Employers cannot use lie detector tests for screening applicants or for random testing of employees  Exceptions: Drug firms Private investigation companies

41. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMATION

42. Learning Goal  To be able to recognize the difference between legal & illegal discrimination.

43. Discrimination  The unequal treatment of individuals based on sex, age, race, nationality, or religion  Regulated by:  Civil Rights Act of 1964 & 1991  Age Discrimination Act  Americans with Disabilities Act  Pregnancy Discrimination Act

44. Disparate Treatment  Intentional discrimination against an individual or a group because of sex, race, color, national origin, or religion.  “ We do not hire female engineers”  “We do not hire male nurses”

45. BFOQ  Bona Fide Occupational Qualification  Example: women to model women’s swimsuits  Can NEVER be raised to justify a discrimination based on race

46. Disparate Impact  Unintentional discrimination due to policy of employer that on the surface seems neutral, but which has an unequal & unfair impact on members of a protected group  Must weigh 150 lbs  Must be 6 foot tall

47. Business necessity  If the employer can show that a qualification is required to perform the job, then it may be permitted despite its disparate impact on a protected group

48. Sexual Harrassment  Quid pro quo harassment  Occurs when 1 worker demands sexual favors from another worker in exchange for some employment-related decision (raise or promotion)  Hostile working environment  When a pattern of severe & pervasive sexually demeaning behavior has altered the work place, making it distressing, humiliating, or hostile place  Jokes, photos, cartoons, posters, gestures, etc.

49. Age Discrimination in Employment Act  Forbids discrimination against any person aged 40 or older  Hiring & firing  Promotions  Retirement & Pensions

50. Americans with Disabilities Act Forbids discrimination on the basis of a disability  Disability  Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities  Exceptions when causing “undue hardship”