Another area managed by the human resource manager is compliance with all employment and employment-related laws.

What are Employment Laws?

Employment law is any law that governs the conduct of employers with regard to employees.

There are many federal and state employment laws. Federal laws controlling a particular type of employer conduct set minimum standards for conduct.

States may pass laws that place additional requirements on employers, so long as these laws do not conflict with or hinder the execution of federal laws. That is, if not in conflict, the state laws may be more restrictive upon employer practices than similar federal statutes.

The major federal laws controlling the employer-employee relationship are as follows:

• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). 
• Internal Revenue Code 
• Fair Labor Standards Act 
• Family Medical Leave Act 
• Worker Readjustment and Retraining Act 
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act 
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
• Workers Compensation Act 
• Occupational Safety and Health Act 
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 
• Affordable Care Act Immigration Reform and Control Act 
• The Privacy Act

Remember, there are equivalent state laws applicable to conduct covered by each of these laws.

What are Labor Laws?

Labor laws control the relationship between employers and employees with regard to such things as benefits, obligations, and bargaining rights.

Labor law is generally grouped together with all employment laws, but it is frequently used to refer to the group of laws affecting collective bargaining rights of and unionization by employees.

Numerous federal and state laws govern labor relations. There are also specific laws designated to govern the collective bargaining and unionization rights of public sector employees of the federal and state governments.

• Norris-LaGuardia Act – This law prevents courts from issuing injunctions (stop orders) to individuals or groups of striking employees.
• National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act) – This law takes affirmative steps to allow unionization of employees.
• Taft- Hartley Act – This law regulates a wide range of employer-employee conduct and is administered by the National Labor Relations Board.
• Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act – This law took steps to protect the rights of union members with regard to union actions.

As stated above, states frequently pass laws that govern labor relations between employers and employees. These laws cannot conflict with federal law, but they may regulate labor relations in a way that is more restrictive than federal law.

What is Employment Discrimination?

Employment discrimination is a specific area of employment law that is based upon fundamental rights granted or protections afforded under the US Constitution.

Employment discrimination laws prohibit certain types of discrimination by employers against employees or prospective employees based upon their protected characteristics.

Various federal and state laws prohibit employment discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, religion, national origin, age, physical disability, and sexual orientation. These are known as protected classes of individuals.

The major federal laws and regulations prohibiting employment discrimination were passed as part of several major federal acts and the subsequent amendments thereto.

The primary federal acts addressing employment discrimination are as follows:

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) 
• Civil Rights Act of 1866 (1981 Act) 
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) 
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 
• The Rehabilitation Act
• Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) 
• Uniformed Services Employment and Redeployment Act (USERRA) 

Each of these areas of law are covered in greater detail in our Business Law course.