BCOR 3000 1nd Edition Exam 4 Study Guide Lectures 18 Chapter 24 Employment Law Overview Facts and Terms What is a job offer We offer you a position as an entry level gopher CEO for a starting salary of 98 000 per year starting date August 15 2014 What is this a job offer Most are offers for a unilateral contract where the company promises to pay if you do the work but that the arrangement can be cancelled at any time What is the At Will Doctrine Either party can end an employment arrangement at any time for any reason or no reason at all The basic rule is still law but there are many exceptions now Often abused by employers Today the people who are hurt by this are most often employees Reason give works the legal right to get out of nightmare apprenticeships However there are exceptions to this doctrine 1 Specific contract if specific rights to quit or fire are given up Never can be forced to stay in a job with a specific contract If you are however in a specific contract and quit you can be sued for damages Power vs Rights power means you CAN do it right means you CAN do it without and consequences of damages 2 Policy manuals a matter of interpretation Ex The employee policy manual says if you are only late once or twice in the month no adverse employment action will take place but the third time you are late you will lose your job The company has stated that you WILL lose your job under this circumstance All the employee manual says if you are late 3 times you will be terminated The gray area question is what will happen upon the first late arrival to work All that this does is that it sets up the circumstances that you are fired on the 3rd late arrival Being late the 1st and 2nd time nothing will happen only on the 3rd time you are late Automatic termination provisions are straight forward to a point But anything prior to the act for termination is up for debate 3 Statements as long as you meet your sales quota you are safe from being fired this random statement protects employees as long as you meet it What is the Fair Labor Standards Act This act has many regulations on hours of employment working conditions ages of workers overtime etc Overtime Exceptions 1 2 3 4 Professional Salary Administrative Salary Executive Salary Computer Programmers Family and Medical Leave Act This act is used in companies with over 50 employees and is for employees who have been employed for 1 year and have worked at least 1 250 hour or more in the past 12 months Employees are allowed up to 12 weeks unpaid for absences such as birth care of child placement of child i e adoption health care of spouse child parent or call to military duty Occupational Safety and Health Act This was created to regulate safety in the workplace This act acts as both an act regulations and as an administration The administration side is in charge of developing and enforcing workplace safety Worker s Compensation Ease of recovery for injured workers Employer loses defenses Contributory negligence if you are any at fault you get nothing Fellow servant doctrine employee is injured by another employee no recovery by employer Assumption of risk the worker assumes risk so if they are injured too bad Exclusive Remedy ONLY everyone gets same recovery can only recover injuries not medical bills that exceed the uniformity recovery for worker s compensation however you can recover from customers or co workers if they injury you on the job even though the restaurant employer did nothing but nothing over the uniformity recovery of worker s compensation Insurance funded make sure the money is there it is the state who is the insurer collect premiums and acts as insurance company OR free market where employer can shop around and pick an insurer for their workers Look at 1 how dangerous 2 how many claims have been filed to determine rates Prior to worker s comp you have to sue under negligence Worker s Comp similar injuries get similar compensation Not required to go to court set up a faster streamline hearing process this will reduce the legal costs of the whole system the trouble is that when you make it a lot easier to get worker s comp you also make it easier for people to fake their injuries In order to recover the two main things you have to prove 1 injured on the job and 2 work related Social Security This is more than a retirement and it is not a savings plan ERISA Survivor s benefit Benefit age rising to 67 Once retired you get a monthly compensation that is based upon your history of work and salary Pension Plans Employer Funded Based off of complex formulas Requirements 1 Funding 2 Vesting 3 Reporting 4 Investing 5 Management Employee Privacy Rights this is an oxymoron There are some protections But businesses are allowed to monitor employee business communications Employers have control and oversight for off the job conduct Employers can use outside information against you Chapter 25 Employment Discrimination Overview Key Terms and Definitions Equal Employment Opportunity Commission This commission is the in between of an employer and the court system The EEOC tries to resolve problems if they can If discrimination has already occurred the EEOC can not do anything If discriminative action is ongoing then the EEOC can get involved and help resolve the problems If the EEOC does not take the case the EEOC will issue a right to sue which means that the employee has the right to sue the employer Without this letter the case would be dismissed Title VII A section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Covers larger employers Protected Categories 1 Race 2 Color 3 Origin 4 Sex 5 Religion Disparate Treatment an individual is discriminated against based on a protected category Disparate Impact employment requirement appears neutral on its face but discriminates against a group Ex 80 Rule Height Weight Requirements Strength Requirements Equal Pay Acts Gender based only Requires equal pay for similar jobs in same company Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 2009 Constructive Discharge Employee not actually fired Employer makes working conditions intolerable so that employee has no choice but to leave Common demotion and or ridicule Sexual Harassment Quid pro quo this for that Sexual favors gets you something in return Specific incident one incident illegal If boss sleeps with employee and employee gets promotion illegal Facts are hard to prove If employee doesn t sleep with boss and gets fired illegal Hostile Environment General conduct or