US Employment Law Flashcards
Any fixed, recurring period of 168 consecutive hours
(7 days X 24 hours = 168 hours)
Workweek
Procedural document designed to assist employers in complying with federal regulations prohibiting discrimination
Uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures
Concept that jobs filled by primarily women that require skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions comparable to similar jobs filled primarily by men should have the same classifications and salaries
Comparable worth
USA act that provides individuals and dependents who may lose healthcare coverage with opportunity to pay to continue coverage
Consolidated omnibus budget reconciliation act (COBRA)
Employees who are excluded from the US fair labor standards act minimum wage and overtime pay requirements
Exempt employees
US act that requires contractors and subcontractors on certain contracts to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found in the locality or the rates found in the previous contractor’s collective bargaining agreement
McNamara O’Hara service contract act
US act that prevents private employers from requiring applicants or employees to take a polygraph test for pre employment screening or during the course of employment, with certain exceptions
Employee polygraph protection act (EPPA)
Landmark USA labor relations case that dealt with the right of a unionized employee to have another person present during certain investigatory interviews
NLRB v. Weingarten
Type of discrimination that results when a policy test appears to be neutral has a discriminatory effect; also known as adverse impact
Disparate impact
USA act that provides employees with up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to care for family members or because of a serious health condition of the employee
FMLA
USA court ruling that distinguished between supervisor harassment that results in tangible employment action and supervision harassment that does not
Burlington Industries Inc v. Ellerth
Type of discrimination that results when a policy that appears to be neutral has a discriminatory effect; also known as disparate impact
Adverse impact
Statement in the United States Occupational Safety and Health Act that requires employers subject to the act to provide employees with a safe and healthy work environment
General duty clause
USA law that requires federal contractors with contracts of $100000 or more as well as recipients of grants from federal government to certify that they are maintaining a drug free workplace
Drug Free Workplace Act
USA act that requires that all publicly held companies establish internal controls and procedures for financial reporting to reduce the possibility of corporate fraud
Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX)
Process by which a retirement benefit becomes nonforfeitable
Vesting
Primary job duties that a qualified individual must be able to performs either with or without accommodations
Essential functions
Sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction that one feels for persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or both sexes and more than one gender
Sexual orientation
USA act that defines what is included as hours worked and is therefore compensable and a factor in calculating overtime
Portal to Portal act
USA act that imposed several restrictions and requirements on unions
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA)
USA act that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, youth employment, and record keeping standards affecting full and part time workers in the private sector and on federal, state, and local government
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Factor, such as religion, gender, national origin, etc, that is reasonably necessary, in the normal operations of an organization, to carry out a particular job function
Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)
People who are covered under a particular federal or state anti discrimination law
Protected class
Legal doctrine under which a party can be held liable for the wrongful actions of another party
Vicarious liability
Individuals who exchange work for wages; I. The USA, workers who are covered by the FLSA regulations as determined by the IRS
Employees
USA act that Romig it’s discrimination against individuals on the basis of their genetic information in both employment and health insurance
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
USA case that set the standard for determining whether discrimination based on disparate impact exists
Griggs v. Duke Power
USA court ruling that distinguished between supervisor harassment that results in tangible employment action and supervisor harassment that does not
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton
2010 USA law that requires virtually all citizens and legal residents to have minimum health coverage and requires employers with more than fifty full time e plovers to provide healthcare coverage that meets minimum benefits specifications or pay a penalty
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
USA acts that expanded FMLA leave for employees with family members who are covered members of the military
National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA)
Amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act covering the definition of individuals regarded as having a disability, mitigating measures, and other rules to guide the analysis of what constitutes a disability
ADA Ammendents Act (ADAAA)
States that a fiduciary of a plan covered by the USA Employee Retirement Income Security Act has legal and financial obligations not to take more risks when investing employee benefit program funds than a reasonably knowledgeable, prudent investor would under similar circumstances
Prudent person rule
USA act that prohibits wage discrimination by requiring equal pay for equal or substantially equal work performed by men and women
Equal Pay Act (EPA)
Type of sexual harassment that occurs when an employee is forced to choose between giving into a superiors sexual demands and forfeiting an economic benefit such as pay increase, promotion, or continued employment
Quid pro quo
Medical condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment
Occupational illness
USA act that established uniform minimum standards to ensure that employee benefit and pension plans are set up and maintained in a fair and financially sound manner
Employee retirement income security act (ERISA)
First comprehensive USIA making it unlawful to discriminate anthe basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
Civil rights act of 1964
USA act that prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability because of their disability
ADA
2007 case in which the USA Supreme Court ruled that claims of sex discrimination in pay under title VII were not timely because discrimination charges were not filed with the EEOC within the required 180 day time frame
Ledbetter V. Goodyear
Principle of employment in the USA that employers have the right to fire, hire, demote, and promote who ever they choose for any reason unless there is a law or contract to the contrary and that employees have the right to quit a job at any time.
Employment at will
Refers to the country of one’s birth or of one’s ancestor’s birth
National origin
USA act that requires so,e employees to give a minimum of 60 days notice if a plant is to close or if mass layoffs will occur
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)
USA act that creates a rolling time frame for filing a wage discrimination claims and expands plaintiff field beyond employee who was discriminated against
Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act
USA act that expands the possible damage awards available to victims of intentional discrimination to include compensatory and punitive damages; gives plaintiffs in cases of alleged discrimination the right to a jury trial
Civil Rights Act of 1991
USA act that amended title vii and gave the EEOC authority to back up its administrative findings and conduct its own enforcement litigation
Equal Employment Opportunity Act
USA act that established the first national policy for workplace safety and health and continues to deliver standards that employers must meet to guarantee the health and safety of employees
OSHA
Occurs when sexual or other discrimination conduct is so severe and pervasive that it interferes with an individual’s performance; creates and intimidating, threatening, or humiliating work environment; or perpetuates a situation that affects the employee’s wellbeing
Hostile environment harassment
Type of discrimination that occurs when an applicant or employee is treated differently because of their membership in a protected class
Disparate treatment
Amends EO 11478 and 11246 to include gender identity and sexual orientation
EO 13672
USA act that prohibits discrimination against job applicants on the basis of national origin or citizenship and establishes penalties for hiring undocumented workers
Immigration Reform and Control Act. (IRCA)
USA act that amended the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to include all employee benefits; also provided standards that an employees waiver if the right to sue for age discrimination must meet in order to be held up by a court
Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA)
USA act that made it unlawful to intercept messages in transmission, access stored information on electronic communication services, or disclose any of this information
Electronic Communication Privacy Act
USA act that requires certain contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers and mechanics no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on federal contracts
Davis Bacon Act
Union employees’ right in USA to have a union representative or coworker present during an investigatory review
Weingarten rights
USA act that establishes a minimum wage, maximum hours, and health and safety standards for contracts to manufacture or furnish materials, articles, or equipment to the USA government or the District of Columbia
Walsh Healey Public Contracts Act
USA act that prohibits discrimination against specified categories of veterans; applies to federal government contractors and subcontractors
Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
USA act that frees employers who use third parties to conduct workplace investigations from consent and disclosure requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act in certain cases
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act)
USA act that imposed regulations on internal union affairs and the relationship between union officials and union members
Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA)
USA act that defined marriage as the union between one man and one woman and permitted states to not recognize same sex marriages recognized by other states; ruled unconstitutional by the USA Supreme Court
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
1992 case in which the USA Supreme Court ruled that an employer cannot be compelled to allow nonemployee organizers onto the business property
Lechmere Inc v. NLRB
Required for non exempt workers under the FLSA at 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for over 40 hours in a workweek.
Overtime pay
USA Supreme Court ruling that ACA requirement that individuals purchase health insurance was constitutional but requirement that states expand Medicaid was not
National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius
USA act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
USA act that prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Case that established criteria for disparate treatment
McDonnell Douglas Corp v. Green
Self employed individuals hired on a contract basis for specialized services
Independent contractor
Refers to one’s internal, personal sense of being a man or woman, which may or may not be the same as one’s sexual assignment at birth
Gender identity
USA act that protected and encouraged the growth of the union movement; established workers rights to organize and bargain collectively with employers
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
USA act that protects privacy of background information and ensures that information supplied is accurate
Fair Credit Reporting Act
1971 case that stated that an employer may not, in the absence of business necessity, refuse to hire women with preschool aged children with hiring men with such children
Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation
USA act that protects the employment, reemployment, and retention rights of persons who serve or have served in the uniformed services
Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
Employees covered under the FLSA regulations, including minimum wage and overtime pay requirements
Nonexempt employees
Modifying a job application process, a work environment, or the circumstances under which a job is performed to enable a qualified individual with a disability to be considered for the job and perform its essential functions
Reasonable accommodations
Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one’s major life activities
Disability
Type of liability insurance covering an organization against claims by e players, former employees, and employment candidates alleging that their legal rights in the employment relationship have been violated
Employment practices liability insurance
Injury that results from a work related accident or exposure involving a single incident in the work environment
Occupational injury
