2. Core U.S. Employment Statutes

Employee Relations Exam 1

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Includes harassment: quid pro quo ("this for that") and hostile workplace (intimidating, offensive, or severe or pervasive conduct that interferes with work).

• Harassing conduct can create a hostile workplace even when it isn't aimed at the person affected, and that person doesn't have to confront the people doing it.

• Employers with 15 or more employees.

• Enforced by the EEOC.

Equal Pay Act of 1963

• Equal pay for substantially equal work regardless of sex.

• Jobs don't need to be identical; compare skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.

• Differences may be lawful if based on seniority, merit, production, or a factor other than sex.

• Enforced by the EEOC.

ADEA

• Protects workers 40 and older.

• Employers with 20 or more employees.

• The employee generally must show age was the but-for cause of the decision.

• Enforced by the EEOC; willful violations can increase damages.

ADA

• Prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability and requires reasonable accommodation unless it creates undue hardship.

• Employers with 15 or more employees.

• Once the need is known, engage the interactive process.

• Enforced by the EEOC.

FLSA

• Federal minimum wage, overtime, and child labor limits.

• Non-exempt employees get overtime after 40 hours in a workweek.

• Exempt versus non-exempt depends on duties and salary rules, not titles.

• Also know the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act: reasonable breaks for up to 12 months, in a place shielded from view, free from intrusion, and not a bathroom.

FMLA

• Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying reasons (personal illness, family illness of a spouse, child, or parent, a new child, deployment-related exigencies), plus up to 26 weeks to care for a family member who is a wounded or ill service member.

• Covers employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles, and public-sector employers.

• Employees must have 12 months of employment and at least 1,250 hours worked.

• Common violations: interference and retaliation. Enforced by the Department of Labor.

PWFA

• Requires reasonable accommodation for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless there is undue hardship.

• Employers with 15 or more employees.

• Fills the gap when pregnancy-related needs don't fit neatly under the ADA.

• Enforced by the EEOC.

Retaliation Travels Across The Map

Employees are commonly protected when they complain, oppose conduct they reasonably believe is unlawful, request an accommodation, request leave, or participate in an investigation. Timing after protected activity often becomes the story.

Numbers

• Retaliation is the most common EEOC charge (47.8% of charges in FY2024, the leading basis for the 17th year in a row)

• Followed by harassment (40.4%)

• And disability discrimination (38.0%).

• FLSA collective actions totaled $418 million in settlements in 2025.

The Four-Filter Manager Checklist

1.) Protected status or activity

2.) Required process

3.) Timing

4.) Evidence. If you can't explain it clearly, don't act fast or alone.