Chapter 34
Labor and Employment Law
Learning Objectives
 What is the employment at will doctrine?
 What federal statutes govern working hours?
What federal statutes govern labor unions and
collective bargaining?
 What federal act was enacted to protect the
health and safety of employees?
 What is the Family and Medical Leave Act?
 Does electronic monitoring violate employees’
right to privacy?
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Introduction
 Historically, employment law was
governed by the common law doctrine of
“employment at will” where either
employer or employee could terminate
the relationship at any time, for any
reason.
 Today employment law is heavily
regulated by state and federal statutes.
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Wage-Hour Laws
Hours and Wages.
 Davis-Bacon Act -- the prevailing wage act.
 Walsh-Healey Act -- the beginning of minimum wages.
 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) -- an extension of wage
and hour regulation to workers in interstate commerce.
Child Labor.
 FLSA prohibits oppressive child labor practices. Provides
regulations for work, depending on the age of child.
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Labor Unions
 Norris-LaGuardia Act.
Protects peaceful strikes by limiting the
injunction powers of federal courts.
 National Labor Relations Act.
Establishes the right of workers to strike
and engage in collective bargaining.
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Labor Unions
Labor Management Relations Act.
Prohibits certain unfair union practices
such as closed shops.
Labor-Management Reporting and
Disclosure Act.
Regulates the internal operations of
unions and outlaws hot-cargo
agreements.
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Union Organization
Union organization involves:
Elections.
• An election can be held only if it can be shown that
at least 30% of the workers will be represented.
Election Campaigns.
• The National Labor Relations Board regulates the
rights and obligations of employers and workers in
the election process.
• Each side can pursue their objectives, but cannot
interfere, beyond certain limits, in the other’s
activities.
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Collective Bargaining
 Collective bargaining is the process by
which management and labor negotiate
the terms and conditions of employment.
 The NLRB will certify an exclusive
bargaining agent for labor.
 Both labor and management must bargain in
good faith, but the law does not require that
they reach an agreement.
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Strikes
 There are two basic forms of strikes:
 Economic Strikes.
• These are strikes over wages.
• Workers can be replaced by permanent
replacements.
 Unfair Labor Practice Strikes.
• These are strikes alleging that the employer has
committed an unfair labor practice.
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Worker Health and Safety
 The Occupational Safety and Health Act.
(OSHA).
 The fundamental federal law aimed toward
safety in the workplace.
 Enforcement is by OSHA, NIOSH, and the
OSHRC.
 Procedures and Violations: Employers with 11
or more employees required to keep records.
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Worker Health and Safety
State Workers’ Compensation Laws.
 These laws reduce employer liability to employees for
workplace injuries, and provide a measure of assurance
that workplace injuries will be compensated, regardless
of the solvency of the employer, by:
 Requiring that injured employees make a claim against
the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance
policy, instead of suing the employer.
 Requiring most employers to carry workers’
compensation insurance.
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Income Security
 Social Security and Welfare.
 Private Pension Plans.
 Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA) gives employee a vested right to
receive pension benefits at a future date when
she stops working.
 Unemployment Insurance.
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COBRA
 COBRA prohibits the discontinuance of
insurance benefits of workers who have
voluntarily or involuntarily been
separated from work, unless the
involuntary separation was on the basis
of gross misconduct.
 Employers must comply if they have
more than 20 employees.
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Family and Medical Leave Act
The FMLA requires employers with over
50 employees to provide unpaid leave to
employees who need to care for a spouse,
child, or parent suffering with a serious
medical condition.
The employee cannot be terminated for
taking leave under the policy, and has the
right to restoration to the same or a
similar position upon return to work.
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Employee Privacy Rights
 Laws protecting Employee Privacy
Rights
 Electronic Communications Privacy Act
allows employers to monitor electronic
communications in the workplace.
 But it prohibits intentional interception of
personal communications
 ECPA does permit employers to monitor
employee electronic communications in the
course of business.
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Employee Privacy Rights
 Electronic Performance Surveillance.
 Most limitations can be avoided if the employer
informs employees that surveillance will occur.
 Screening Procedures.
 Application question must have some reasonable
connection to the job sought.
 Emerging Trends: Electronic Monitoring in the
Workplace.
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Employee Privacy Rights
 Privacy Expectations and Email systems
 Courts generally hold for employers.
 Case: Smyth v. Pillsbury (1996).
 Other Types of Monitoring
 Lie Detector Tests. Prohibited, except under the
ongoing investigation exception.
 Drug Testing. Most government employees are subject
to testing and the rights of private employees vary
from state to state.
 AIDS Testing. Some state statutes restrict AIDS
testing.
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Employment-Related
Immigration Laws
 The Immigration Reform and Control
Act prohibits the hiring of illegal aliens.
 The Immigration Act of 1990 limits the
number of legal immigrants into the U.S.
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Wrongful Discharge
 The doctrine of employment-at-will
allows the employer and the employee to
terminate employment at any time, for
any reason, without liability.
 Some states however recognize one or
more judicial exceptions to this rule,
while some states recognize none. 
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Wrongful Discharge
 There are three such exceptions to
the doctrine of employment at will:
Contract (implied covenant of Good
Faith and Fair Dealing).
Torts: fraud, emotional distress.
Public Policy.
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Whistleblower Statutes
 A whistleblower is one who reports illegal
employer activities to the proper authorities.
 Whistleblowers are frequently subjected to
retaliation for such activities.
 There are a number of state and federal
(Whistleblower Protection Act) whistle-blower
protection statutes, offering a wide variation in
protections.
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