1. Businesses, Workers, and the Law
Chapter 5

2. Government Regulation of Business
Regulations are rules that government agencies issue to implement laws.
Businesses spend a lot of time and money making sure they comply with laws and regulations and do not face unwanted liability.

3. Six Important Areas of Law
Corporate law
Tax aw
Intellectual property law
Consumer law
Commercial law
Licensing and zoning law

4. Corporate Law How is the business organized? Sole proprietorships
Partnerships
Uniform Partnership Act – governs general partners requires them to by owned by two or more parties and share in the profits.
Corporations

5. Tax Law
Taxes are monies paid by corporations and individuals used to fund government programs and services.
Income tax
Taxes axed levied against a business’s profits.
Property tax
Taxes levied against the property, buildings, or land owned by a business.
Withholding Federal Taxes
Businesses collect taxes from workers

6. Intellectual Property Laws
Businesses are protected by intellectual property laws
Patents
Document issued by the federal government to inventors and companies that gives them the exclusive rights to make, use, and sell their inventions for 17 years.

7. Intellectual Property Laws
Trademarks
Word, name, symbol or slogan a business uses to identify its own goods and set them apart from others.
Good for ten years.
Copyrights
Protection provided for a creative work, such as literary works, musical compositions, plays, dances, paintings, movies, maps, and computer programs.
Good for the holder’s life plus 70 years.

8. Consumer Law
Consumers are individuals who buy goods and services for their own use.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Takes action against a company if it receives enough consumer complaints to establish a “pattern of wrongdoing.”
Sales rules created by FTC
Used Car Rule – requires dealers to tell customers important information about a used car.

9. Commercial Law Contracts
Agreement between two parties to carry out a transaction (ex: Sale of goods from seller to buyer)
Anyone entering into a contract must know what is in the contract and ensure it is properly prepare.
Often difficult to break and can be taken to court if broken.
Uniform Commercial Code – specified requirements for a contract.

10. Licensing and Zoning Law
Regulates who can operate a businesses and where owners can set up shop
Licensing
Way to limit and control people who plan to enter certain types of businesses (i.e. restaurants)
Building codes
Regulate business through physical features or structures of building
Zoning
Regulates where a building can be built through ordinances (commercially zoned areas versus residential)

11. Employment Law
Regulate the relationship between companies and their workers and gives workers significant rights and benefits.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws
Occupational safety and health laws
Wage-hour laws
Benefits laws
Labor relations laws

12. Equal Employment Opportunity
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Companies cannot discriminate against an employee because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
EEOC can sue a company that discriminates against an employee.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Protects workers years of age.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Cannot discriminate based on disabilities and illnesses (blindness or diabetes) and must provide reasonable accommodations

13. Occupational Safety and Health Laws
Sets standards for keeping workers clean and free of hazards, such as unsafe machinery and dangerous chemicals.
Businesses must keep records of employee illness, injuries, and deaths, and report them.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors visit workplaces every year to make sure they comply with regulations.

14. Wage-Hour Laws
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (Wage-Hour Law) protects workers:
Sets the. number of hours employees can work in a week without receiving overtime pay
Prohibits companies from employing children under 14
Sets the minimum wage companies can pay their workers

15. Benefits Laws Social Security Act
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
Unemployment Insurance Laws
Workers’ Compensation Laws
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

16. Labor Relations Laws National Labor Relations Act Unions
Companies must at least listen to what their unions say they want for their members in terms of wages, hours, and conditions of employment (such as safety in the workplace)
Unions
Groups of workers who collectively bargain for rights such as higher wages and better working conditions.

17. Organized Labor

18. Why Organized Labor? Collective Bargaining Protect Workers Rights
Unions bargain for contracts on behalf of its members
Strength in numbers…they can’t fire us all!
Except Air Traffic Controllers (1980’s) and Baseball Umpires (1990’s)
Many were fired for going on strike!!
Protect Workers Rights
Wages
Working hours
Working conditions
Benefits

19. Why Organized Labor? If Collective Bargaining doesn’t work
Strike—Union members refuse to work until a fair contract is agreed upon
Lockout—Management refuses to allow union members into work until certain conditions are met

20. History of Organized Labor
Labor unions of many kinds date back to the early 1800’s
Very scattered, not influential, dissolved quickly
I880’s…a few major labor unions began to grow in numbers and power
Fighting between them increased
1886…major unions joined together to create the AFL (American Federation of Labor)
Considered to be the first real Labor Union in the U.S.
Consisted of only “skilled” members from various areas of the trades (steel workers, iron workers, etc)

21. History of Organized Labor
Wagner Act of 1935
A.K.A. - The National Labor Relations Act
Protected rights of workers to form unions
Established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)…created to investigate unfair business practices
Other unions form
Several unions form during the 1930’s
Auto Workers, Electrical Workers, Rubber Workers
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
Created in 1938
Large union consisting of smaller unions mentioned above
Main rival of the AFL

22. Organized Labor Today AFL and CIO Merged in 1955 Teamsters Union
Consists of 54 smaller unions
Several million members
Teamsters Union
Started as a small part of the AFL-CIO
Was kicked out in 1957, rejoined in 1985, broke away again in 2005
Strong ties to organized crime (Jimmy Hoffa)
Declining in numbers today
Fewer manufacturing jobs
Some unions still very strong
Teachers
Auto Workers
Carpenters
Electrical Workers