Chapter 31 Employment, Worker Protection, and Immigration Law

Workers’ Compensation Acts Workers’ compensation: Compensation paid to workers and their families when workers are injured in connection with their jobs These acts help workers receive compensation for injuries that occur on the job Workers file a claim with the agency Agency determines legitimacy of claim Compensation benefits are paid accordingly 31-2 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance States require employers to: Purchase workers’ compensation insurance, or Self-insure by making payments, if they have the ability to pay compensation claims 31-3 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Employment-Related Injury Injury to an employee that arises out of and in the course of employment Workers’ compensation insurance covers: Physical injuries Stress Mental illness, that are employment related 31-4 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Exclusive Remedy Workers’ compensation is an exclusive remedy Workers cannot sue their employers in court for damages, except when employer intentionally injures an employee Workers can sue third parties to recover damages 31-5 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Case 31.1:Workers’ Compensation Kelley v. Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. Web 2010 Ohio App. Lexis 1269 (2010) Court of Appeals of Ohio Issue Is Kelley entitled to workers’ compensation benefits? 31-6 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Occupational Safety and Health Act Promotes safety in the workplace Established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Imposes record-keeping and reporting requirements on employers Requires employers to post notices in the workplace, informing employees of their rights 31-7 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Empowered to enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Act Empowered to adopt rules and regulations to interpret and enforce the act Adopted thousands of regulations to enforce the safety standards established by the act 31-8 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Types of OSHA Standards Specific duty standards: Developed and apply to specific equipment, procedures, type of work, individual industry, unique work conditions, and the like General duty standards: Imposes on an employer a duty to provide a work environment that is free from recognized hazards 31-9 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Prohibits child labor Establishes minimum wage requirements Establishes overtime pay requirements 31-10 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Child Labor The Fair Labor Standards Act forbids the use of oppressive child labor shipping of goods produced by businesses that use oppressive child labor 31-11 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Department of Labor Regulations Age(in years) Occupation Less than 14 Newspaper deliverers 14–15 Non-hazardous jobs; limited hours 16–17 Non-hazardous jobs; unlimited hours 18 and above Any job 31-12 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay Employees should be paid the federal minimum wage for all hours worked Students and apprentices can be paid less than the minimum wage Employees should be paid overtime pay of one-and- a-half times their regular pay for each hour worked in excess of 40 hours that week 31-13 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Case 31.2: U.S. Supreme Court Fair Labor Standards Act IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez 546 U.S. 21, 126 S.Ct. 514, 163 L.Ed.2d 288, Web 2005 U.S. Lexis 8373 (2005) Supreme Court of the United States Issue Is the time spent by employees walking between the locker room and production area compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act? 31-14 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Exemptions from Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay Requirements Executives Administrative employees Learned professionals Highly compensated employees Computer employees Outside sales representatives 31-15 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Family and Medical Leave Act Guarantees workers unpaid time off from work for family and medical emergencies Applies to companies with 50 or more workers, federal, state, and local government workers Employee must have worked for employer for at least one year 31-16 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Family and Medical Leave Act Provides up twelve weeks of unpaid leave for: Birth of child Placement of child for adoption or foster care Serious health condition Care for spouse, child, or parent with serious health condition Employee must be restored to same or equivalent position upon return 31-17 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) Terminated employee must be offered the opportunity to continue group health insurance Employer must notify covered employees of their rights under COBRA Group rate premium should be paid to continue coverage 31-18 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Applies to employer-offered pension plans Designed to prevent fraud and abuses in private pension plans Employers are subjected to record-keeping and disclosure requirements Provides for vesting Vesting: occurs when an employee has a nonforfeitable right to receive pension benefits 31-19 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Government Programs Unemployment compensation: paid to workers who are temporarily unemployed Employers pay unemployment taxes To collect benefits, applicants must be available for work Workers fired due to bad conduct or workers who quit voluntarily, are not eligible 31-20 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Government Programs Social security: provide limited retirement and death benefits to certain employees and their dependents Retirement benefits Survivors’ benefits Disability benefits Medicare benefits Failure to submit taxes results in interest payments, penalties, and criminal liability 31-21 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Immigration Law Administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) H-1B visa: allows U.S. employers to employ in the United States foreign nationals who are skilled in specialty occupations EB-1 visa: allows U.S. employers to employ in the United States foreign nationals who possess extraordinary ability for certain types of employment 31-22 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Immigration Law The Immigration Reform and Control Act(IRCA) requires the employer to: Obtain a completed Form I-9 for every employee Examine evidence of employee’s identity The IRCA imposes criminal and financial penalties on employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers 31-23 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. 31-24 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.