Ch11: Employment Regulation & Labor Law- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) —a federal law enacted in 1938 and intended to cover all employers engaged in interstate commerce in providing payment of a minimum wage, a maximum 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, and restrictions on children workingin certain occupations and during certain hours- Overtime compensation —a higher rate of pay, calculated at 1.5 times the employees hourly base rate, for the hours nonexempt employees work in excess of 40 hours in one 7-day workweek- Exempt employees —classification of employees that are not included in FLSA protection, generally consisting of employees whose responsibilities are primarily executive, administrative, or professionalo Employees that aren’t covered by FLSA include: (1) professionals that require specialized study & certifications (attorneys, physicians, accountants); (2) management or supervisory employees; (3) computer programmers & engineers; (4) employees subject to certain certification & regulatory requirements - Pension —a retirement benefit in which the employer promises to pay a monthly sum, ordinarily based on the length of service and the employee’s final salary rate, to employees who retire from the company after a certain number of years of service- Tax-deferred retirement savings account —a retirement savings plan where the employee commits to saving a certain percentage in an account that is controlled directly by the employee, and the funds grow tax-free until they are withdrawn- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) —a federal law enacted in 1974 creating a comprehensive set of laws and regulations that requires employers to make certain disclosures related to investment risk, providing transparency for plan beneficiarieso Vesting —an ERISA guideline stipulating that employees are entitled to their benefits from various employer-contributed benefit plans, within a certain period of time, even if they no longer work for their employer- Social Security Act of 1935 (SSA) —a federal law providing for a broad set of benefits for workers that are funded by mandatory employment taxes paid by both employer and employee into a trust fund administered by the federal government- Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 —offers small business owners (those employing fewer than 25 full-time workers) immediate tax incentives if they offer health care coverage to their employees, and pay at least 50% of the total costs for their employees’ coverage - Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) —a federal law enacted in 1935 to provide limited payments, funded through employment taxes used to fund state workforce agencies, to workers who had been temporarily or permanently terminated from employment through no fault of their own- Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) —a federal law enacted in 1989 to protect employees by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least a 60-day written notification of facility closings and mass layoffs of employees- Workers’ compensation —statutes that provide an employee, injured in the course of employment, with a partial payment funded through employer-paid insurance policies, inexchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee’s right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence o 2 exceptions: (1) when an employer has engaged in actions that intentionally created conditions that resulted in harm; (2) when an employer acts with a reckless disregard for the safety of its employees o 2 main criteria: (1) the injury was accidental; (2) the injury occurred within the course of employment - Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) —a federal law enacted in 1970 setting forth workplace rules and regulations to promote safety of workers and prevent workplace injurieso Objectives: (1) setting of national safety standards; (2) mandating information disclosure & warning of hazardous working areas/assignments; (3) record keeping& reporting requirements; (4) imposing a general duty upon employers to keep a workplace reasonably safeo HIPPA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act—sets administrativerules & standards designed to protect employee medical information & records from disclosure to a 3rd partyo COBRA: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act—mandates that employers provide continuous coverage to any employee who has been terminated even if the worker was terminated for cause; requires that the employer provide the exact same health coverage for up to 18 months- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) —a federal law enacted in 1993 that requires certain employers to give time off to employees to take care of their own or a family member’s illness, or to care for a newborn or adopted childo The FMLA requires that an employee returning from a medical leave be reinstated at the same rate of pay - Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) —a federal law enacted in 1986 extending legal protection against wiretapping and other forms of unauthorized interception and explicitly allowing employers to monitor communications by employees using the employers’ equipment so long as it is in the ordinary course of business or if theemployee consents to the monitoring - Employee Polygraph Protection Act —an act that prohibits most private sector employers from requiring a polygraph test as a condition of employment- National Labor Relations act (NLRA) —a federal law enacted in 1935 providing general protections for the rights of workers to organize, engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands (also known as the Wagner Act)o The NLRA provides general protections to the rights of workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining - Collective bargaining —the process of negotiating terms and conditions of employment for employees in the collective bargaining unit- National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) —an independent federal agency created by the NLRA charged with administering, implementing, and enforcing NLRA provisions, as well as monitoring union elections for fraud and setting guidelines for employers and unions with respect to fair labor practices- Labor Management Relations Act —a federal law enacted in 1947 as an amendment to the NLRA prohibiting the forcing of employees to join or continue