1. Unit 5 The Law and the Workplace CH 15 Employment Law 15.2 Employee Rights

2. Objectives  Students will explain how the law protects employee health and safety  Students will describe the laws that guarantee fair wages and benefits.  Students will identify the laws that prohibit different forms of discrimination  Students will define disparate treatment and disparate impact.

3. Academic Vocabulary  Voluntary-Adjective, means done out of free will  Random-Adjective, means lacking method  Waiver-Noun, means an intentional relinquishment of a right.

4. Health and Safety  Employee rights  Right to health and safety protections  Right to fair wages and benefits  Right to privacy  Right to equal opportunity in the workplace

5. Health and Safety  Occupational Safety and Health Act  OSHA-government agency that regulates health and safety standards for companies  Inspects workplaces at random  Investigates written employee complaints, workplace deaths, and disasters  Protects employees from being fired for filing complaints  Levies fines for rule violations

6. Health and Safety  The Environmental Policy Act  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  Pollution

7. Fair Wages and Benefits  Fair Labor Standards Act  Oversees  Minimum Wage  Overtime  Minors in the workplace  Equal Pay Act  Equal Pay Rule-standard that states that employers working in interstate commerce must pay women the same rate of pay as men holding the same type of job

8. Fair Wages and Benefits  The Employment Retirement Income Security Act  Prevents abuses of employee pension plans  Pension Plan-program established by and employer or union to provide income to employees after they retire.  The Family and Medical Leave Act  Allows an employee unpaid leave up to 12 weeks to care for sick family members  Employee is entitled to the same job and pay when they return

9. Fair Wages and Benefits  The Social Security Act  Social Security-government program that provides continuing income to workers and their dependents when their earnings stop or are reduced because of retirement, disability, or death  Unemployment Compensation  Unemployment Compensation-system of government payments to people who are out of work and liking for a job  Workers Compensation  Workers Compensation-insurance program that provides income for workers who are injured on the job or develop a disability or disease as a result of their job

10. Employee Privacy Rights  Areas of privacy  Guaranteeing privacy for governmental employees  Testing employees for drug use  Using polygraph tests in the hiring and firing of employees  Federal Privacy Act  Gives Government employees the right to see and fix what is in their employment folders

11. Employee Privacy Rights  The Drug-Free Workplace Act  Regulates Drug Testing for government worker and government contractors  Some states and passed laws for the private sector also  The Employee Polygraph Protection Act  Can’t use in hiring or firing  Can be used in businesses that are involved in security or controlled substances

12. Equal Employment Opportunity  Discrimination-the unequal treatment of an individuals based on sex, age, race, nationality, or religion  The Civil Rights Act of 1964  Disparate Treatment-when an employer intentionally discriminates against an individual or a group of individuals belonging to a protected class  Disparate Impact-when an employer has an employment policy that appears neutral on the surface but has an unfair impact on members of a protected class

13. Equal Employment Opportunity  Civil Rights Act of 1991  The Pregnancy Discrimination Act  The Immigration Reform Act  The Age Discrimination in Employment Act  Americans with Disabilities Act  Sexual Harassment

14. Discuss  In what area of your life is privacy important?  Why do you think the Equal Pay Act only covers employers engaged in interstate commerce?  What is Workers Compensation and how can abuse of the system be stopped?

15. Discuss  Affirmative Action, what is it and what do you think about it?  Can a person with a vision impairment sue if he or she was not hired for a job because it required driving at night?

16. Activity  Use the internet to research how polygraph machines work and if they are reliable in detecting lies.  Find pictures of such a machine and find out how they developed technologically over the years.  Research applications o the machines in today’s world.  Detail what factors might influence the accuracy of a lie detector test