U.S. Employee Laws
Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD
(For information about employee laws in Canada, see the Human Resources Development Canada website.)
This section of the library provides miscellaneous information which may be helpful as an overview of various aspects of business law in the United States of America. Businesses designing personnel policies should obtain advice from an attorney specializing in the area of employee laws. Businesses requiring legal advice regarding potential or current litigation should seek counsel from an attorney.
Note that employees laws apply the same to for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
Sections of This Topic Include
Brief overview and history of various
employee laws
Major topics and issues
Major employee laws
Employee contracts (at-will employment,
non-compete agreements, etc.)
Miscellaneous links
General
resources (sources with a broad variety of employee-law information)
Nonprofits
- legal information with a focus on nonprofits (including info
about employee laws)
Also consider
Related Library Topics
Learn More in the Library's Blogs Related to This Topic
In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog's page to see various posts. Also see the section "Recent Blog Posts" in the sidebar of the blog or click on "next" near the bottom of a post in the blog.
Library's Human Resources Blog
Brief Overview and History of Various Employee Laws
There are a variety of federal laws, executive orders, etc.,
regarding the selection and treatment of individuals in the workplace.
Most notable are federal laws established by the Employee
Law -- Civil Rights Act of 1964
, designed to ensure equal employment opportunity (EEO). Numerous
EEO guidelines are intended to provide equal opportunities without
regard to race, religion, origin, sex, age or disability. The
guidelines also established requirements for affirmative action,
specifying that employers had to take proactive measures to ensure
equal opportunity to certain protected groups. Various other laws
are designed to ensure safety in the workplace, fair pay standards
and fair treatment of employees providing military service.
The following brief, historical overview might give the reader
some initial perspective on employee laws
Information
on Federal Labor Laws and Their History
Major Topics and Issues
(Note that some or all of the following topics may be addressed
in the section "Major Employee Laws"
provided below.)
Affirmative
Action
Age
Discrimination
Disabled
Workers
Discrimination
(general information)
Drugs
in the Workplace
Equal
Employment Opportunity
HIV/AIDS
in the Workplace
Preventing
Violence in the Workplace
Privacy
Rights
Religious
Protection
Safety
in the Workplace
Sexual
Harassment
Sexual
Orientation Discrimination
Major Employee Laws
The following is a list of many of the major employment-related
laws. (Note that related information about the following laws
may also be included in the above section "Major
Topics and Issues".)
American
with Disabilities Act (ADA) (protection of disabled citizens)
Child
Labor Laws (hiring and pay of minors)
Employee
Law -- Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the major act of Congress which
started many employee laws)
Consolidated
Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) (continuation of health benefits)
Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (health insurance
coverage)
Eligibility
of Alien Workers in the U.S.
Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (protects against misuse
of benefit plans)
Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (compensation, exempt and nonexempt,
overtime, etc.)
Family
and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (job-protected leave for medical
emergencies)
Federal
Employee Compensation Act (FECA) (Worker's Compensation) (injured
workers)
Occupational
Safety and Health Administration Act (OSHA) (safety in the workplace)
Unemployment
Compensation (benefits to qualified, unemployed workers seeking
work)
Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
Employee Contracts
Contracts with Employees (about "at will" employment, and includes sample contract)
Miscellaneous Links
Rights
of employees in the workplace
When
to file a complaint if discriminated against in the workplace
Fully Informed
Jury Association
Juror's
Handbook
Is that even legal?
For the Category of Legal:
To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.
Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.