SHRM - US Employment Law & Regulations

Disparate impact

Type of discrimination that results when a policy that appears to be neutral has a discriminatory effect; also known as adverse impact.

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

U.S. 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 their employees.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

U.S. act that prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age. (20+ employees)

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)

First comprehensive U.S. law making it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (15+ employees)

Workweek

Any fixed, recurring period of 168 consecutive hours (7 days times 24 hours = 168 hours).

McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act

mandates contractors and subcontractors performing services on federal government contracts over $2,500 pay their service employees fair, locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits

Sexual orientation

Sexual, romantic, or emotional/spiritual 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.

Weingarten rights

Union employees’ right in U.S. to have a union representative or coworker present during an investigatory interview.

Equal Pay Act (EPA)

U.S. act that prohibits wage discrimination by requiring equal pay for equal or “substantially equal” work performed by men and women.

Nonexempt employees

Employees covered under U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, including minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.

Vicarious liability

Legal doctrine under which a party can be held liable for the wrongful actions of another party.

Independent contractors

Self-employed individuals hired on a contract basis for specialized services.

Protected class

People who are covered under a particular federal or state antidiscrimination law.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act

U.S. act that requires some employers to give a minimum of 60 days’ notice if a plant is to close or if mass layoffs will occur. (100+ employees)

Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)

U.S. act that prevents private employers from requiring applicants or employees to take a polygraph test for preemployment screening or during the course of employment, with certain exceptions.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

2010 U.S. law that requires virtually all citizens and legal residents to have minimum health coverage and requires employers with more than 50 full-time employees to provide health coverage that meets minimum benefit specifications or pay a penalty.

Occupational injury

Injury that results from a work-related accident or exposure involving a single incident in the work environment.

Employees

Individuals who exchange work for wages or salary; in the U.S., workers who are covered by Fair Labor Standards Act regulations as determined by the IRS.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

U.S. act that prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability because of his/her disability. (15+ employees)

Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

U.S. act that prohibits discrimination against job applicants on the basis of national origin or citizenship and establishes penalties for hiring undocumented workers.

Comparable worth

Concept that jobs filled primarily by women that require skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions comparable to similar jobs filled primarily by men should have the same classifications and salaries.

Prudent person rule

requires benefit plan fiduciaries to manage employee funds with the same care, skill, and careful judgement that a knowledgeable professional would use under similar circumstances to protect their participants best interests

Disparate treatment

Type of discrimination that occurs when an applicant or employee is treated differently because of his or her membership in a protected class.

General Duty Clause

Statement in U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act that requires employers subject to the act to provide employees with a safe and healthy work environment.

Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act

federal law that establishes a minimum wage, maximum hours, and health and safety standards for contracts to manufacture or furnish materials, articles, or equipment to the U.S. government or the District of Columbia. ($10,000+)

National origin

Refers to the country (including those that no longer exist) of one’s birth or of one’s ancestors’ birth.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

U.S act that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, youth employment, and record-keeping standards affecting full- and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments.

Overtime pay

Required for nonexempt workers under U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act at 1.5 times the regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

U.S. act that provides individuals and dependents who may lose health-care coverage with opportunity to pay to continue coverage. (20+ employees)

Employment at-will

Principle of employment in the U.S. that employers have the right to hire, fire, demote, and promote whomever 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.

Portal-to-Portal Act

U.S. act that defines what is included as hours worked and is therefore compensable and a factor in calculating overtime.

Reasonable accommodation

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.

Davis-Bacon Act

U.S. 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. ($2,000+)

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

U.S. act that provides employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for family members or because of a serious health condition of the employee. (50+ employees)

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

U.S act that prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of their genetic information in both employment and health insurance. (15+ employees)

Exempt employees

Employees who are excluded from U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.

Adverse impact

Type of discrimination that results when a policy that appears to be neutral has a discriminatory effect; also known as disparate impact.

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

U.S. 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.

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

U.S. act that protects the employment, reemployment, and retention rights of current and former service members who have served in the uniformed services.

Vesting

Process by which a retirement benefit becomes nonforfeitable.

Disability

Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one’s major life activities.

ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA)

Amendments to U.S. 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. (15+ employees)

Quid pro quo harassment

Type of sexual harassment that occurs when an employee is forced to choose between giving in to a superior’s sexual demands and forfeiting an economic benefit such as a pay increase, a promotion, or continued employment.

Essential functions

Primary job duties that a qualified individual must be able to perform, either with or without accommodation.

Hostile environment harassment

Occurs when sexual or other discriminatory conduct is so severe and pervasive that it interferes with an individual’s performance; creates an intimidating, threatening, or humiliating work environment; or perpetuates a situation that affects the employee’s psychological well-being.

Occupational illness

Medical condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment.

Phillips vs Martin Marietta Corporation

U.S. case that stated that an employer may not, in the absence of business necessity, refuse to hire women with preschool-aged children while hiring men with such children.

Bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)

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.

Griggs vs Duke Power

established the disparate impact theory of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

F-1 Visa

a nonimmigrant student visa that allows foreign nationals to pursue full-time academic studies or language training at accredited U.S. colleges, universities, high schools, or other institutions

H-1B Visa

a temporary, nonimmigrant visa that lets U.S. employers hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations that require specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree

L-1 Visa

a nonimmigrant visa that allows multinational companies to temporarily transfer executives, managers, or specialized knowledge employees from a foreign office to a U.S. branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or parent office

B-1 Visa

a nonimmigrant U.S. visa for temporary business visitors