Employability Laws Matt Haller

Americans with Disabilities Act – 1990 (ADA) Nation's first comprehensive civil rights law addressing the needs of people with disabilities, prohibiting discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications Employers covered by the ADA have to make sure that people with disabilities: have an equal opportunity to apply for jobs and to work in jobs for which they are qualified; have an equal opportunity to be promoted once they are working; have equal access to benefits and privileges of employment that are offered to other employees, such as employer- provided health insurance or training; and are not harassed because of their disability

Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act – 1986 (COBRA)  Gives workers and their families who lose their health benefits the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan for limited periods of time under certain circumstances such as voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce, and other life events. Qualified individuals may be required to pay the entire premium for coverage up to 102 percent of the cost to the plan  COBRA generally requires that group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage (called continuation coverage) in certain instances where coverage under the plan would otherwise end 

Equal Pay Act  Required equal pay for both male and female  Applies to all businesses 

Fair Labor Standards Act – 1938 (FLSA)  Establishes minimum wage, overtime pay eligibility, recordkeeping, and child labor standards  Affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments 

Family Medical Leave Act – 1993 (FMLA)  The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave  Have worked for their covered employer at least a year 

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – 1996 (HIPAA)  The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically. The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization  All medical related businesses 

Immigrant Reform and Control Act – 1986, 1990, 1996 (IRCA)  Under IRCA, employers may hire only persons who may legally work in the U.S., i.e., citizens and nationals of the U.S. and aliens authorized to work in the U.S. The employer must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone to be hired  All businesses 

Patriot Act  The law gave new powers to the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Security Agency and other federal agencies on domestic and international surveillance of electronic communications; it also removed legal barriers that had blocked law enforcement, intelligence and defense agencies from sharing information about potential terrorist threats and coordinating efforts to respond to them  All businesses under Federal law  Searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com

Sarbanes-Oxley Act – 2002 (SOA)  Was enacted in response to a series of high-profile financial scandals that occurred in the early 2000s at companies including Enron, WorldCom and Tyco that rattled investor confidence  ALL organizations, large and small, MUST comply. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act  Federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.  It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments. 

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act – 1988 (WARN ​ )  Is a United States labor law which protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs of employees, as defined in the Act 