Other Federal and State Agencies Dealing With Employment Issues
Other forms of employment discrimination, such as that based on race or sex, or issues regarding workplace safety, entitlement to overtime pay or family and medical leave, are regulated by different federal and state statutes and agencies, and are not covered by the NLRA. You will need to contact and seek assistance from the agency that is charged with the responsibility for overseeing the controlling federal or state law. This guide identifies common referrals that may provide helpful information and assistance to you with respect to types of employment related issues not handled by the NLRB.
Discrimination Based on Race, Color, Sex, Religion, National Origin, Age or Disability
If you believe that you have been discriminated against by an employer, employment agency or a labor union based on your race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age or disability, you may wish to contact the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and/or any state or city human rights agencies located in your area which administers local statutes against these types of prohibited employment discrimination. EEOC is a federal agency that administers federal laws prohibiting the specific types of employment discrimination outlined above. For more information on EEOC and the process of filing a charge with that agency, please click the link below for EEOC's Web site.
Federal Minimum Wage, Overtime Child Labor and Related Issues
If you have a problem involving minimum wage, prevailing wage, overtime, break time, hours of work, child labor, polygraph protection or the Family and Medical Leave Act, you may wish to contact the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration (ESA), Wage and Hour Division, which administers federal laws related to these topics. The Fair Labor Standards Act generally covers employees employed by companies that are subject to federal regulation, i.e., employers that are engaged directly or indirectly in interstate commerce. Please click either the first link below for ESA's Home Page for more information about the Fair Labor Standards Act and other related federal statutes or the second link below for more information on the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Unpaid Wages of Employees Not Represented By a Union
For claims of unpaid wages, such as a refusal to pay accrued vacation pay, especially where you are not represented by a labor union, you may wish to contact the department of labor of the state in which you earned the wages in dispute. For a list of state departments of labor, click the link below. You may need to consult the blue pages of your local telephone directory to find an office of the state department of labor that is nearest to you.
Pension Issues
If you have a problem regarding your entitlement to a pension which you earned through your employment, you may wish to contact the U.S. Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefit Administration (PWBA), which assists employees regarding pensions, health plans and other employee benefits covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Please click the box below for the PWBA Home Page for more information on that agency's policies and programs.
Workplace Safety
If you have a concern regarding the safety of your workplace, you may wish to contact the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which seeks to insure safe and healthful working conditions. Please click the link below for the OSHA Home Page, for more information on this federal agency and its policies, programs and regulations.
Rights of Union Members and Union Disclosure
If you have an issue regarding a union member's rights with respect to the regular election of union officers or if you have a question regarding the documents that a union must file with the U.S. Department of Labor, you may wish to contact the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) of the U.S. Department of Labor, which enforces most provisions of the Labor- Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). LMRDA establishes financial reporting requirements for labor organizations, safeguards for protecting labor organization funds and assets, and standards for the regular election of union officers. Unions representing Federal employees are similarly covered by the implementing regulations of the standards of conduct provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act. Unions representing solely state, county and municipal employees are not covered by either of these federal laws, but may be subject to certain state laws and regulations. Please click the link below for further information on OLMS.
If you are a federal employee and have an issue regarding the rights and obligations of union, management and employees in a federal workplace represented by a labor union, you may wish to contact the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Please click the link below for the FLRA's Home Page for information on filing a charge with the FLRA.
In addition, if you are a federal employee, you may have certain protections under Federal merit system principles. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board is an independent agency of the Federal Government whose mission is to ensure that Federal employees are protected against abuses by agency management, that Executive branch agencies make employment decisions in accordance with the merit system principles, and that Federal merit systems are kept free of prohibited personnel practices. Please click the link below for the Merit Systems Protection Board’s Home Page.
http://www.mspb.gov/
State and Local Government Employees
If you are an employee of a state or local government and have an issue regarding the rights and obligations of unions, management and employees in a state or local government workplace, you may wish to contact the Information Officer of the NLRB Regional Office, which is located nearest to your job, to obtain a referral to State or Local Government Agency, if any, which regulates labor relations issues involving employees of state and local government entities.
Statutes and Executive Orders
For a brief description of the major statutes and Executive Orders comprising the framework of regulation of the workplace by the federal government, please click the link below.
In some circumstances, an employer's discharge of an employee may not be regulated by any federal or state statute. For example, depending on the decisional law of a particular state, a private sector employee who is not represented by a labor union may be deemed to be an employee "at will" under the law. Generally, absent a written employment contract or an enforceable promise of certain employment conditions, an employer may, without running afoul of the law, demote or fire an employee deemed to be an employee "at will" for any reason or no reason, so long as the employer's conduct is not a type of discrimination prohibited by a federal or state law. However, a number of states recognize exceptions to the employment at will doctrine which permit an employee to contest adverse employment actions in certain defined circumstances by pursuing a private lawsuit. Therefore, you may wish to seek legal advice from a private attorney to determine your right to contest a "wrongful" discharge which is not covered by any of the federal or state statutes outlined above.