Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
• Unit 7 Test on Tuesday, May 14 – study the
Terms.
• Turn in each chapter notes and assignment as
you get them done and after the quiz. Staple
each chapter’s assessment questions to the back
of the notes handout.
• All chapter notes, assignments, and extra credit
are due the day of the test (if you have not
already turned them in).
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
BELL QUIZ ON CHAPTER 19
1. True/False - Actual authority is the real power a principal
gives to an agent to act on the principals’ behalf.
2. True/False - Implied authority includes all of the orders,
commands or directions a principal directly states to an
agent.
3. Name ONE of the Agent’s Duties to the Principal
4. Name ONE of the Principal’s Duties to the Agent
5. When a principal fails to notify third parties, what may
they be liable for?
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
ANSWERS TO BELL QUIZ
1. True
2. False (Express Authority)
3. Obedience, Good Faith, Loyalty, Account for
Money, Judgment and Skill
4. Compensation, Reimbursement,
Indemnification, Cooperation
5. Future acts of the agent.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employment Conditions
Employment conditions can be divided
into three areas
health and safety
right to fair wages and benefits
privacy rights
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Health and Safety
The federal Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970 was enacted by
Congress to ensure that employees
are protected in the workplace.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Health and Safety
The act established the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), the agency within the federal
government that sets safety and
health standards for many companies
within the United States.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Health and Safety
NOTES: Businesses with 11 or more
employees that engage in interstate
commerce must meet OSHA’s health
and safety standards.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Health and Safety
OSHA uses two approaches to
accomplish its mission.
1. Imposes upon employers the
affirmative duty to maintain a safe
and healthy work environment.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Health and Safety
2. Creates rules that outline the safety
steps that businesses must
maintain.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Inspections
NOTES: To make certain that
employers adhere to OSHA
regulations, the agency randomly
inspects workplaces. OSHA also
endeavors to inspect a business when
a death or a disaster has occurred or
an employee files a complaint.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Inspections
The law protects employees who
file OSHA complaints.
Employers may be fined for each
violation reported by an employee
or discovered during an inspection.
Example 1
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Wages, Hours, and Benefits
In order to regulate wages, hours, and
benefits, the government has passed
several laws that set standards for
employment in American business.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Wages, Hours, and Benefits
These laws include
Fair Labor Standards Act
Equal Pay Act
Employment Retirement Income
Security Act
Family and Medical Leave Act
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Fair Labor Standards Act
NOTES: The Fair Labor Standards
Act requires certain employers to pay
their workers a legal minimum hourly
wage rate, plus time-and-a-half for all
work over 40 hours per week. It also
regulates the employment of minors.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Equal Pay Act
NOTES: In 1963, Congress passed
the Equal Pay Act as an amendment
to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The
amendment established the equal pay
rule.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Equal Pay Act
The equal pay rule states that
employers engaged in interstate
commerce must pay women the same
rate of pay as men holding the same
type of job.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Equal Pay Act
The equal pay rule covers
hourly workers
executives
administrators
professional employees
outside salespeople who receive
salaries and/or commission
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employment Retirement
Income Security Act
A pension plan is a program
established by an employer or a union
that is designed to provide income to
employees after they retire.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employment Retirement
Income Security Act
Previously, funds in some employee
pension plans were poorly invested or
used for other business expenses.
These practices resulted in losses of
retirement benefits to workers and
severe economic hardship for them.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employment Retirement
Income Security Act
The Employment Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) was passed to
prevent such abuse.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employment Retirement
Income Security Act
NOTES: One requirement of the act is
that employers must place employee
contributions to pension plans in a
trust fund that is independent of the
employer’s control.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Family and Medical Leave Act
NOTES: Under the Family and Medical
Leave Act, an employee of a company with
at least 50 employees is entitled to 12
weeks of leave during any 12-month period
because of the birth or adoption of a child,
or to care for a spouse, child, or parent
who has a serious medical condition.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employee Privacy Rights
Three areas of primary concern
include
privacy for governmental employees
testing employees for drug use
using polygraph (lie detector) test
results in the hiring and firing of
employees
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employee Privacy Rights
Three laws that relate to these areas
of concern are
Federal Privacy Act
Drug-Free Workplace Act
Employee Polygraph Protection Act
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Federal Privacy Act
NOTES: Because of our general
aversion to governmental interference
in personal rights, the privacy of
government employees is often given
greater emphasis than the privacy of
employees in the private sector.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Federal Privacy Act
Under the Federal Privacy Act
government employees are given the
right to
restrict inspection of their
employment files
be informed of their employment
files
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Federal Privacy Act
be informed of the contents of their
employment files
fix any mistake that they might find
in those files
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Drug-Free Workplace Act
The Drug-Free Workplace Act applies
to companies that have contracts with
the federal government and aims to
create a drug-free work environment.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Drug-Free Workplace Act
NOTES: Under this act, firms must
initiate a plan to make sure that
employees do not use drugs on the
job; however, it does not order
companies to include drug testing in
Example 2
their plans.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Drug-Free Workplace Act
If a drug test is performed improperly,
it can violate the Fourth Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution, which
prohibits unreasonable search and
seizure.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employee Polygraph
Protection Act
As with drug testing, polygraph or lie
detector testing can violate the privacy
rights of employees. Congress passed
the Employee Polygraph Protection
Act to regulate such testing
procedures.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Employee Polygraph
Protection Act
NOTES: This act prohibits employers
from using lie detector tests either for
screening of employment applicants
or for random testing of employees.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Laws Providing Worker Benefits
NOTES: The law attempts to protect
workers who have left the job because
of retirement, injury, or disability.
The law also provides assistance to
workers who have been laid off or
discharged.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Laws Providing Worker Benefits
Government initiatives to protect
workers include
social security
unemployment insurance
worker’s compensation
work opportunity
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Social Security Act
Social security is a government
program that provides continuing but
limited income to workers and their
dependents.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Social Security Act
NOTES: It provides benefits to
employees and their families when
their earnings stop or are reduced
because of retirement, disability, or
death.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Unemployment
Compensation Laws
Unemployment compensation is a
system of government payments to
people who are out of work and
looking for a job.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Unemployment
Compensation Laws
NOTES: Payments are made from an
unemployment insurance fund financed
by payroll taxes on employers or
unemployment insurance premiums
paid by employers.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Workers’ Compensation Laws
Workers’ compensation is an
insurance program that provides
income for workers who are injured or
develop a disability or disease as a
result of their job.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Workers’ Compensation Laws
NOTES: Employers bear the cost of
workers’ compensation. In most
states, employers must pay a tax on
their payrolls to fund the state’s
workers’ compensation insurance
fund.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Work Opportunity Laws
Welfare, a government system to
provide assistance to poor Americans
with dependent children, was criticized
for many reasons. As a result, in 1996,
Congress passed the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Act.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Work Opportunity Laws
This act instituted a new program
entitled Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families (TANF).
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Work Opportunity Laws
NOTES: Under TANF, a majority of all
welfare recipients must hold a job,
enter career programs or face a loss
of payments. This requirement
becomes effective after a recipient has
received benefits during a two-year
period.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Section 21.2 Discrimination
During the second half of the twentieth
century, Congress enacted legislation
to discourage employment opportunity
discrimination.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Discrimination
Discrimination is the unequal
treatment of individuals based on sex,
age, race, nationality, or religion.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Discrimination
Congress enacted the following
legislation:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Discrimination
Age Discrimination in Employment
Act
Americans with Disabilities Act
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
NOTES: Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in
employment based on race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin.
These five categories, along with age,
are often referred to as protected
classes.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) has the power to
stop unfair employment practices by
seeking a court injunction or by suing
the employer for damages.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Treatment
Discrimination can take place through
disparate treatment and disparate
impact.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Treatment
Under disparate treatment, the
employer intentionally discriminates
against an individual or a group of
individuals belonging to one of the
protected classes.
Example 4
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Treatment
Employers have a defense against the
charge of disparate treatment, which
is bona fide occupational
qualification (BFOQ).
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Treatment
NOTES: If the employer can show
that the qualification in question is a
bona fide (good faith) employment
qualification, then the discrimination
may be justified.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Impact
Discrimination can also take place via
disparate impact, which is indirect
discrimination.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Impact
NOTES: This occurs when an
employer has an employment policy
or criteria that appears neutral but has
an unfair impact on the members of
one or more of the protected classes.
Example 5
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Impact
Employers have a defense against a
charge of disparate impact, known as
business necessity.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Disparate Impact
If the employer can show that
qualification is required to perform the
job, then it may be permitted despite
its disparate impact on a protected
class.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
21.2 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Section
Conditions and Benefits
Equal Protection in Employment
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Employers are not
permitted to discriminate
in hiring practices either
directly through disparate
treatment or indirectly
through disparate impact.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
The protection granted to
employees under the Civil
Rights Act includes not
only hiring practices but
also treatment on the job.
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Civil Rights Act of 1991
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 was
enacted by Congress:
to strengthen the doctrine of
disparate impact
to allow plaintiffs to recover not only
back pay but also compensatory
and punitive damages
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Sexual Harassment
NOTES: Sexual harassment can
occur either through quid pro quo
harassment or through the creation of
a hostile work environment.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Sexual Harassment
Quid pro quo harassment occurs
when one worker demands sexual
favors from another worker in
exchange for some employmentrelated decision, such as a raise or a
promotion.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Sexual Harassment
In contrast, the creation of a hostile
working environment occurs when a
pattern of severe and pervasive
sexually demeaning behavior has
altered the workplace, making it a
distressing, humiliating, or hostile
place.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
To ensure the fair and equal treatment
of pregnant women, the Pregnancy
Discrimination Act was enacted.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Pregnancy Discrimination Act
NOTES: The law makes it unlawful to
discriminate against a woman
because of childbirth or physical
problems associated with pregnancy
or childbirth.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Age Discrimination
in Employment Act
This act (the ADEA) prohibits
employment agencies, employers with
20 or more employees, and labor
unions of more than 25 members from
discriminating on the basis of age.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Age Discrimination
in Employment Act
NOTES: The act forbids discrimination
against any person age 40 or older in
hiring, firing, promotion, or other
aspects of employment.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Americans with Disabilities Act
NOTES: This act forbids
discrimination on the basis of a
disability if the disabled individual can
do the “essential functions” of a job.
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
Americans with Disabilities Act
The act defines disability as any
“physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more of the
major life activities.”
Example 6
End of Chapter 21
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity
Section 21.1 Laws Relating to Employment
Conditions and Benefits
NOTES: Review Section 22.3
Managing Your Debts Terms on the
Unit 7 Terms Handout
Understanding Business and Personal Law
Employment Protection and Equal Opportunity