Selected Laws

Posts Tagged ‘Federal’

Employers have the right to make employment-related decisions that are essential to a company’s success. However, some of them tend to abuse their power by subjecting their employees to illegal employment practices.

One of these practices is making decisions that are based on an applicant or employee’s protected characteristics. The law tries to protect employees against workplace discrimination by imposing federal anti-discrimination laws, which include the following:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

It prohibits employers from performing discriminatory practices against employees or applicants on the basis of color, race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin. In addition, it protects employees from retaliation if they have asserted their rights in workplace or filed a discrimination complaint.

Title VII applies to private employers who have at least 15 workers, employment agencies, labor organizations, the federal government, state governments and their political agencies and subdivisions, and joint labor management committees that control trainings and apprenticeships.

The main reason why it was enforced is to prevent discrimination in all areas of employment including the following:

Firing
Promotion, transfer, or layoff
Recruitment
Job advertisements
Fringe benefits

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

Under ADEA, employers are prohibited from discriminating against applicants or workers who are 40-years-old and above. It applies to all private employers who have at least 20 workers, interstate agencies, the federal government, labor unions, and employment agencies.

It also provides protection to state government employees. However, these employees are prohibited from filing a case in court if they suffered from age discrimination. They can only file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Equal Pay Act (EPA)

It requires employers to provide equal compensation to male and female employees who have the same job responsibilities. However, these employees can have different salaries if the employer has based his decision on factors other than gender like merit or seniority.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

It prohibits local and state governments, private employers who have at least 15 employees, labor unions, and employment agencies from performing discriminatory actions against qualified disabled individuals in all aspects of employment.

A disabled employee or applicant will be qualified for the job if he can perform his job duties, even without reasonable accommodation.

Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) of 2008

Employers are prohibited from using an employee or applicant’s genetic information as a basis when making employment decisions. In addition, they are also prohibited from requiring workers to provide such information.

This article is not meant to be interpreted as a legal advice. To know the available legal options regarding your case, consult an Employment Law Attorney for more information.

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Every employer in the US, with 2 or more employees, has an obligation to display the current State and Federal Labor Law Posters.  These are designed to present important information in a clear format for employees and must be displayed where they can be easily seen by all workers, for example in a break room or near the main entrance.

While most businesses will be required to post the same posters, the specific that your company will need to display varies depending on the type of business that you run, for example a construction company may have different law requirements to a legal firm. Some of them do not need to be displayed if they do not apply to your company because, for example, you do not have the required number of employees.  Whatever the size or type of your business it is mandatory that you display all of the correct law posters that are applicable for your premises.

These law posters must be displayed in a language that can be understood by all employees. If a single employee does not write or speak English, these must be displayed in a language they do understand. They cover all aspects of employee rights. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) posters detail important health and safety information about the workplace, as well as outline the proper procedures for reporting any concerns about related work conditions. While The Department of Labor issues law posters covering content such as minimum wage, disability rights, family leave and other important legal topics for employees. 

Since the labor laws vary from state to state, in addition to Federal laws there are also unique State law posters. These outline any labor laws that are specific to your particular state and must be displayed alongside the other laws applicable to the entire U.S.

As laws are constantly being revised and changed, it is also important that you display the most recently updated laws. The latest 2010 Labor Law Posters should replace any older versions within your workplace immediately in order for you to continue to meet the mandatory compliance regulations. 

Purchasing Osha4Less’s 2010 Poster Compliance solution will mean that you will automatically be sent the latest updated laws for the remainder of 2010, so you never have to worry about being out of date with your compliance.