Employment Law Requirements

Are you paying attention to employment law requirements? If you aren’t, you should be. Not only are you required to follow specific regulations concerning employment law, but you are also required to notify your employees of their employment law rights by placing an employment law poster in a conspicuous place in your business where your employees will be likely to see it, such as an employee break room.

There are eight basic Federal employment laws that you should be aware of and understand.

1. The first of these is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This employment law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. In addition, sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and sexual harassment is also prohibited under this employment law.
2. Next, there is the Civil Rights Act of 1966. This employment law prohibits discrimination based on race or ethnic origin.
3. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits employers from paying different wages to men and women that perform essentially the same work under similar working conditions.
4. Most employers have heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but do not understand how this employment law can impact them. This law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities.
5. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin or citizenship of persons who are authorized to work in the United States.
6. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, also known as ADEA, prohibits discrimination against individuals who are age 40 or above.
7. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination against minorities based on poor credit ratings.
8. The Bankruptcy Act prohibits discrimination against anyone who has declared bankruptcy.

In addition to these employment laws, you are also subject to the following employment laws:

• The Occupational Safety and Health Act provides specific regulations regarding the safety and health conditions of employers and employees in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.
• FMLA, the Family Medical Leave Act, allows employees to take unpaid leave from their jobs under specific conditions.
• Under the Employee Polygraph Protection Act Labor Law, private employers are not allowed to use lie detector tests for either pre-employment screenings or during the course of employment.
• FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, provides for minimum wage and overtime pay standards as well as record-keeping and child labor standards in private as well as public employment.

Beyond the major Federal employment laws, you will also need to make sure that you are in compliance with state employment law as well. Each state may provide for employment laws in addition to the federal employment laws mentioned above. For example, California employment law covers several areas such as unemployment labor law insurance, temporary services or leasing labor law and state disability labor law. Click here to view Workers’ Rights forms and publications for the State of Washington.