Transcript A39

Twomey  Jennings
Anderson’s Business Law and the Legal Environment, Comprehensive 20e
Anderson’s Business Law and the Legal Environment, Standard 20e
Business Law: Principles for Today’s Commercial Environment 2e
Chapter 39
Regulation of Employment
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
The Employment Relationship
• The relationship of employer and
employee is created by the agreement of
the parties and is subject to contract
principles.
– If the contract states a specific duration, the
employer cannot terminate the contract at
an earlier date unless just cause exists.
• Collective Bargaining Contracts.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
2
Employment Relationship
• If no definite time period is set forth,
the individual is an at-will employee,
and the employer can terminate the
contract at any time.
– Some courts limit this if the discharge
violates public policy or is contrary to
good faith and fair dealing in the
employment relationship.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
3
Employment Relationship
• Justifiable Discharge.
• Whistle-Blower Protection under the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002).
– Contains reforms for corporate
accountability, disclosure, and liability for
corporate records.
– Title VII contains protections for corporate
whistle-blowers.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
4
Employment Relationship
Consent
Employer
Pays
Compensation
Employee
(Individual or Collective
Bargaining Agreement)
Performs services/works
under employer’s
direction and control
Independent
Contractor
Perform duties free from
control by other party
Agent
Negotiates contracts on
behalf of an under
control of principal
Differs from:
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
5
Labor Relations Laws
• The Fair Labor Standards Act regulates
minimum wages, overtime hours, and
child labor.
• Under the National Labor Relations Act,
employees have the right to form a union
to obtain a collective bargaining contract
or to refrain from organizational
activities.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
6
Labor Relations Laws
• National Labor Relations Act.
• National Labor Relations Board.
– NLRB promotes union election conduct.
– Union activity on private property.
– Firing employees for union activities.
• Once a union certified, employers have a duty
to bargain collectively.
• NRLA allows right to work laws.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
7
Labor Relations Laws
• Strike and picketing activities.
– Rights of strikers. Economic strikers may
not be entitled to return to work at the end of
the strike.
– Picketing: Primary picketing, mass
picketing, or secondary picketing.
• Regulation of internal affairs.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
8
Pension Plans
• The Employees Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) protects
employees’ pensions by requiring:
– (1) high standards of those administering the
funds,
– (2) reasonable vesting of benefits,
– (3) adequate funding, and
– (4) an insurance program to guarantee
payments of earned benefits.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
9
Unemployment Benefits
• Unemployment compensation benefits
are paid to persons for a limited period
of time if they are out of work through
no fault of their own.
• Persons receiving unemployment
compensation must be available for
placement in a job similar in duties and
comparable in rate of pay to the job
they lost.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
10
Benefits Provided by Law
• Twelve-week maternity, paternity, and
adoption leaves are available under the
Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Leaves for Military Service under USERRA.
• Employers and employees pay Social
Security taxes to provide retirement benefits,
disability benefits, life insurance benefits,
and Medicare.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
11
Employees’ Health & Safety
• The Occupational Safety and Health Act
provides for:
– (1) the establishment of safety and health standards
and
– (2) the effective enforcement of these standards.
• Many states have enacted “right-to-know”
laws, which require employers to inform their
employees of any hazardous substances
present in the workplace.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
12
Regulation of Working
Conditions
Working Conditions
Wages
and
Hours
Fair Labor
Standards
Act
Privacy
Drug
Testing
Safety
E-Mail
Monitoring
OSHA
Contract
Terms
National Labor
Relations Act
Sweat Shop
Code
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
13
Compensation for
Employees’ Injuries
• Workers’ compensation laws provide for the
prompt payment of compensation and medical
benefits to persons injured in the course of
employment without regard to fault.
– An injured employee’s remedy is generally limited
to the remedy provided by the workers’
compensation statute.
– Most states also provide compensation to workers
for occupational diseases.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
14
Employee Privacy
• The Bill of Rights is the source of public sector
employees’ privacy rights.
• Private sector employees may obtain limited
privacy rights from statutes, case law, and
collective bargaining agreements.
• Employers may monitor employee telephone
calls, although once it is determined that the call
is personal, the employer must stop listening or
be in violation of the federal wiretap statute.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
15
Employee Privacy
• The ordinary-course-of-business and consent
exceptions to the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) give private
employers a great deal of latitude to monitor
employee E-mail.
• Notification to employees of employers’ policies
on searching lockers, desks, and offices reduces
employees’ expectations of privacy, and a search
conducted in conformity with a known policy is
generally not an invasion of privacy.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
16
Employee Privacy
• Drug and alcohol testing is generally
permissible if it is based on reasonable
suspicion; random drug and alcohol
testing may also be permissible in safetysensitive positions.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
17
Employer-Related
Immigration Laws
• Immigration laws prohibit the
employment of aliens who have illegally
entered the United States.
• Employer liability.
• Employer verification and special hiring
programs.
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
18