|
Employment Law Guide
Overview
|
Disclaimer
Major Statutes &
Regulations Administered by the Department of Labor
This Guide describes the requirements
of each major statute enforced by the Department of Labor (DOL). The
various chapters are organized by type of standard (e.g., Wages and
Hours of Work; Safety and Health Standards; Health Benefits and
Retirement Standards; Other Workplace Standards).
Each chapter discusses (1) which employers or
employees are covered by the statute; (2) the statute's basic provisions
and requirements; (3) employee rights; (4) how to obtain information and
compliance assistance from DOL; (5) penalties or sanctions for
non-compliance; and (6) relation of the statute to state, local, and
other federal laws.
The chapters contain links to more detailed
information, such as the texts of statutes, regulations, and
interpretative bulletins, which can be found on DOL agencies' Web sites.
To understand their full responsibilities under each statute, users
should refer to these more detailed materials.
Please note that other federal agencies besides DOL enforce laws and
regulations that affect employers. For example, the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (www.eeoc.gov) enforces many of the statutes designed to ensure
non-discrimination in employment, and the National Labor Relations Board (www.nlrb.gov)
administers the Taft-Hartley Act regulating employer conduct with regard to
employees in a wide range of areas. Please consult these agencies for further
information on their requirements.
The Overview is structured to help businesses, particularly new businesses,
determine which DOL statutes are most likely to apply to them. The first statutes
discussed apply to most employers, followed by those that apply to federal contractors,
and finally, by the statutes that apply to specific industries, i.e., agriculture, mining,
construction, and transportation.
Other sources of assistance include the following:
I. REQUIREMENTS THAT APPLY TO MOST EMPLOYERS
A. Wages and Hours of Work
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
prescribes minimum wage and overtime pay standards as well as recordkeeping and child labor standards
for most private and public employment, including work conducted in the home. The Wage and Hour Division
of the Employment Standards Administration (ESA) administers this Act. Contact your local ESA
Wage and Hour Division office for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
The minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA require the
following from employers of covered employees who are not otherwise exempt:
- Employers must pay covered employees a minimum wage of not less than $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Employers may pay employees on a
piece-rate basis and, under some circumstances, may consider tips as
part of wages.
- Youths under 20 years of age may be paid a minimum wage of not less
than $4.25 an hour during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment
with an employer. Employers may not displace any employee to hire someone at
the youth minimum wage.
- Although the Act does not place a limit on the total hours which may
be worked by an employee who is at least 16 years old, it does require that
covered employees, unless otherwise exempt, be paid not less than one and
one‑half times their regular rates of pay for all hours worked in excess
of 40 in a workweek.
In addition, the FLSA sets forth special rules for working out of the home.
For example, in certain manufacturing industries, the employer must first obtain a
certification permitting homework from ESA's Wage and Hour Division.
As noted above, the FLSA’s child labor provisions for nonagricultural work include
restrictions on the hours of work and occupations for youths under age 16 and restrictions
on employment of 16 and 17 year olds in occupations found to be hazardous by the Department.
Other generally applicable statutes that set workplace standards
include:
B. Safety and Health Standards
The Occupational Safety and
Health Act (OSH Act), administered by the Department of Labor's
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), regulates
safety and health conditions in most private industry workplaces
(except those in industries, such as transportation and mining,
that are regulated under other statutes).
OSHA sets safety and health standards by regulation.
- Safety standards cover hazards such as falls, explosions, fires, and
cave-ins, as well as machine and vehicle operation, and maintenance, etc.
- Health standards regulate exposure to a variety of health hazards
through engineering controls, the use of personal protective equipment (e.g.,
respirators or hearing protection), and work practices.
Employers covered by the OSH Act are required to maintain safe and healthful workplaces.
These employers must become familiar with job safety and health standards applicable to
their establishments, comply with the standards, and eliminate hazardous conditions to the
extent possible. Employees must comply with all rules and regulations that apply to their
own actions and practices.
Where OSHA has not set forth a specific standard, employers are responsible for complying
with the OSH Act's "general duty" clause [Section 5(a)(1)], which states that each employer
"shall furnish…a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing
or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees."
Specific safety and health standards developed by OSHA supersede the more general safety
and health regulations originally issued under the Walsh-Healey Act, the
McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act,
the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, and the Arts and Humanities Act.
States operating under OSHA approved state plans enforce safety and health standards in
their respective states, while OSHA is responsible for enforcement in the remaining states.
Contact your local OSHA office for more information (1-800-321-OSHA).
Another generally applicable statute, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), prescribes the
conditions under which minors (younger than 18) can safely work. These restrictions affect
most private and public employment. ESA's Wage and Hour Division administers this Act. Contact
your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office for more detail (1-866-4USWAGE).
C. Health Benefits and Retirement Standards
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
governs certain activities of most employers who have pension or welfare benefit plans. This Act
preempts many state laws in this area. The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) administers
ERISA. Contact your local EBSA office for more information (1-866-444-EBSA).
ERISA covered pension plans must meet a wide
range of fiduciary and reporting and disclosure requirements. EBSA's
regulations define what constitutes plan assets, what is adequate
consideration for the sale of plan assets, and the effects of control by
participants over the assets in their plans, among other things.
Under ERISA, welfare benefit plans also must meet a wide range of fiduciary, reporting,
and disclosure requirements. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
(COBRA) enacted provisions for disclosure and notification requirements for the continuation
of health care. These provisions cover group health plans of employers with 20 or more employees
on a typical business day in the previous calendar year. COBRA gives separated participants and
beneficiaries an election to maintain coverage under the employer's health plan at their own
expense for a limited period of time.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) added several
provisions to ERISA which are designed to provide participants and beneficiaries of group
health plans with improved portability and continuity of health insurance coverage. These
provisions are also designed to improve access to insurance and protect against discrimination
on the basis of health status. Moreover, HIPAA requires that health insurance coverage be
renewable for small employers in certain circumstances.
The statute also provides an insurance mechanism to protect certain types of retirement
benefits by requiring that employers pay annual pension benefit insurance premiums to the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which is associated with the Department of Labor.
Pension insurance information can be obtained by writing Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,
P.O. Box 151750, Alexandria Va, 22315-1750, or by calling 202-326-4000, or 1-800-400-7242.
D. Other Workplace Standards
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers of
50 or more employees (and all public agencies) to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave to
eligible employees for the birth and care of a child, for placement with the employee of a child for adoption
or foster care, or for the serious illness of the employee or an immediate family member. ESA's Wage and Hour Division
administers this Act. Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
- Veterans' reemployment rights are protected for National Guard and Reserve members who are called to active duty.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) addresses the rights and responsibilities of
individuals and their employers, and the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) administers this Act.
Contact your local VETS office for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
- The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) provides for early warning to employees of
proposed layoffs or plant closings. The Employment and Training Administration
(ETA) can provide information on WARN,
but since it does not have administrative or enforcement authority under WARN, it cannot provide specific advice
or guidance with respect to individual situations. Contact your local ETA office for more information (1-877-US-2JOBS).
- The Employee Polygraph
Protection Act (EPPA) prohibits most uses of lie detectors by
employers on their employees and job applicants. ESA's Wage and Hour Division
administers this Act. Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office
for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
- The Labor‑Management
Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) (also known as the Landrum Griffin Act) addresses the
relationship between a union and its members. It ensures certain basic standards of democracy
and fiscal responsibility in labor organizations. ESA's Office of Labor Management Standards
(OLMS) administers this Act. Contact your local ESA OLMS office for more information (1-866-4-USA-DOL).
II. REQUIREMENTS THAT APPLY TO EMPLOYERS WHO RECEIVE FEDERAL
CONTRACTS, GRANTS, OR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements for federal contractors
are set forth under Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act,
and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (38 USC 4212). These laws
prohibit discrimination and require affirmative action with regard to race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, and status as a qualified individual with a disability
or a protected veteran. ESA's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
administers these laws. Contact your local ESA OFCCP office for more information (1-800-397-6251).
Various laws determine wage, hour, and fringe benefit standards for employees of federal contractors.
These laws include: the Davis Bacon and Related Acts (for construction); the
Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act; the
McNamara O'Hara Service Contract Act (for services); and the
Walsh Healey Public Contracts Act (for manufacturing). ESA's Wage and Hour Division determines the required wage
and benefit rates and enforces these statutes. Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office
for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
These Acts also authorize issuance of safety and health standards to covered contractors,
unless specific standards issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
supersede them. Contact your local OSHA office for more information on safety standards (1-800-321-OSHA).
Employers who receive federal grants or financial assistance from the Department of Labor must
comply with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Entities that receive federal financial assistance under the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) or that run programs and activities that are part of the One-Stop
Career Center delivery system are subject to section 188 of the WIA. Information about these requirements
can be found on DOL's Equal Employment Opportunity Web page.
III. REQUIREMENTS THAT APPLY TO SPECIFIC INDUSTRIES
Many of the laws (e.g., the Occupational Safety and Health Act) described in the preceding
sections also apply to businesses in the following industries.
A. Agriculture
Under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
OSHA has issued a number of safety standards that address such matters as field sanitation,
overhead protection for operators of agricultural tractors, grain handling facilities, and
guarding of farm field equipment and cotton gins. Contact your local OSHA office for more
detail (1-800-321-OSHA).
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires that employers wishing to use nonimmigrant workers
for temporary agricultural employment under the H-2A visa classification
apply to the Employment and Training Administration for a labor certificate
showing that there are not sufficient workers in the United States who are able,
willing, qualified, and available to do the work, and that employment of such
nonimmigrant workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions
of workers in the United States. Employers of such workers must comply with
worker-protection provisions, including wage, transportation, and housing
safety standards. ESA's Wage and Hour Division enforces these provisions.
Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office
for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
The Migrant and Seasonal
Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) requires that covered farm labor contractors,
agricultural employers, and agricultural associations comply with worker protection provisions
applicable to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers whom they recruit, solicit, hire, employ,
furnish, or transport or, in the case of migrant agricultural workers, to whom they provide housing.
ESA's Wage and Hour Division administers the requirements of MSPA. Contact your local ESA
Wage and Hour Division office for more information.
The Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) contains special child labor regulations that apply to agricultural employment.
The regulations administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division apply only to those
establishments with employees (i.e., they do not apply to family run and family operated farms
that do not hire outside workers). Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office for more information.
In addition, the Employment and Training Administration administers several agriculture specific programs. Contact your local ETA office for more information (1-877-US-2JOBS).
Finally, the Environmental
Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) issues and enforces several safety and health standards (e.g., with respect to pesticides) that apply to this industry.
B. Mining
The Federal Mine Safety and
Health Act of 1977 was enacted to improve working conditions in
the nation's mines. This law strengthened an earlier coal mining law
and brought metal and nonmetal miners under the same general protections
as those afforded coal miners. Its provisions cover all miners and
other persons employed to work on mine property. The Mine Safety and
Health Administration (MSHA) administers the Act. Contact the nearest MSHA office for more details.
Under the Act, the operators of mines, with the assistance of their employees,
are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of the miners. Each mine must
be registered with MSHA. Many mine operators must submit plans to MSHA before
beginning operations, and such plans must be followed during mining.
The 1977 Act established mandatory miner training requirements and strengthened
health protection measures and gassy mine safety programs. The Act also provided
for closure of mines in cases of imminent danger to workers or failure to correct
violations within the time allowed, greater involvement of miners and their
representatives in processes affecting workers' health, and tougher civil monetary
penalties for safety or health violations by mine operators.
MSHA's Coal Mine Safety and Health Division enforces the law
and the regulations at underground and surface coal mines. MSHA's
Metal and Nonmetal Mine Safety and
Health Division enforces federal requirements at non coal mines (including open pit
mines, stone quarries, and sand and gravel operations).
Health and safety regulations developed and enforced by MSHA cover
numerous hazards, including those associated with the following:
- Exposure to respirable dust, airborne contaminants, and noise;
- Design, operation and maintenance requirements for mechanical
equipment, including mobile equipment;
- Roof falls, and rib and face rolls;
- Flammable, explosive and noxious gases, dust and smoke;
- Electrical circuits and equipment;
- Fires;
- Hoisting; and
- Access and egress.
The Black Lung Benefits Act
(BLBA), part of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977,
provides for monthly payments and medical treatment to coal miners
totally disabled from pneumoconiosis (black lung disease). The Act
also provides for payments to certain family members of miners who
died from pneumoconiosis or are totally disabled because of it.
ESA's office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Division of Coal
Mine Workers' Compensation, administers the Act. Contact the nearest DCMWC office for more details (1-800-638-7072).
C. Construction
Several Department of Labor agencies administer programs specifically
related to the construction industry:
- Under the Occupational Safety
and Health Act, OSHA sets and enforces construction safety
and health standards. Contact your local OSHA office for more information (1-800-321-OSHA).
- Davis‑Bacon and Related
Acts require most contractors and subcontractors on federally
assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 to pay prevailing wage rates
and fringe benefits, as determined by the Secretary of Labor through
ESA's Wage and Hour Division. Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office
for more information (1-866-4USWAGE).
- Under Executive Order
11246, ESA's OFCCP has issued specific regulations on nondiscrimination and affirmative
action requirements for federal construction contractors and subcontractors.
Contact your local ESA OFCCP office for more information (1-800-397-6251).
- The "Anti‑Kickback" section of the
Copeland Act applies to all
contractors and subcontractors performing on any federally funded or assisted
contract for the construction or repair of any public building or public work,
except contracts for which the only federal assistance is a loan guarantee.
This provision precludes a contractor or subcontractor from in any manner
inducing an employee to give up any part of the compensation to which he or she is entitled. Contact your local ESA Wage and Hour Division office for more detail (1-866-4USWAGE).
D. Transportation
Under the Occupational Safety and
Health Act, OSHA issues and enforces standards for longshore work and the maritime industry. Contact your local OSHA office for more information (1-800-321-OSHA).
However, agencies outside of the Department of Labor administer many other laws affecting the
transportation industry. For example, the Department of Transportation and the Railway Retirement
Board primarily administer the Railway Labor Act.
The Employment Law Guide is offered as a public resource. It
does not create new legal obligations and it is not a substitute for the U.S.
Code, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations as the official sources
of applicable law. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information
provided is complete and accurate as of the time of publication, and this will
continue. Later versions of this Guide will be offered at
www.dol.gov/compliance or by calling our Toll-Free
Help Line at 1-866-4-USA-DOL (1-866-487-2365). |
|