Glossary: Employment Law

This dictionary defines key employment law provisions and concepts and serves as a handy reference guide. The definitions cover federal laws like:

• The Fair Labor Standards Act
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
• The Family and Medical Leave Act

If you need help understanding your obligations under employment laws in your state, consider enlisting the help of a local employment law attorney.

Key Federal Laws and Agencies

This section covers the foundational federal statutes and the government agencies that enforce them.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA): The ADEA is a federal law that protects workers ages 40 and older from workplace discrimination based on their age. It bans age-related bias in hiring, firing, promotions, and other employment terms.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The ADA is a federal law that protects qualified employees and applicants from discrimination based on a disability. The ADA also requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for workers with disabilities.

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA): COBRA is a federal law that allows eligible employees and their dependents to continue their group health insurance coverage for a limited time after employment ends (e.g., after a layoff or resignation). This is available at their own cost.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee. It protects against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.

Equal Pay Act: The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a federal law that requires employers to pay workers doing the same work equally. It was enacted to address the wage gap between men and women.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): The FLSA is a federal law that establishes the national minimum wage, overtime pay requirements, recordkeeping standards, and youth employment rules for most public and private sector employees. States can set minimum wage rates that are higher than the federal rate.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): The FMLA is a federal law that requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. These include the birth of a child or a serious health condition.

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA): The NLRA is a federal law that protects the rights of most private-sector employees. This allows them to organize, form unions, and bargain collectively with their employer over wages, hours, and other working conditions.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA): OSHA is the federal agency that sets and enforces workplace health and safety standards to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for employees. Businesses must meet OSHA standards for their industry.

Title VII: This is a key provision of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

The Employment Relationship

These terms define the nature of the employment agreement and when it begins and ends.

At-will employment: This is an employment relationship with no contractual agreement. Either the employer or employee can end the relationship at any time, for any reason or no reason, as long as the reason is not illegal (e.g., discrimination or retaliation). Most U.S. employment is considered at-will.

Collective bargaining: Collective bargaining is a negotiation process between an employer and a group of employees, typically through a union representative, to reach an agreement on wages, benefits, and working conditions. The result is a legally binding collective bargaining agreement.

Conditions of employment: These are the specific terms of a job that an employer and employee agree upon. This can include job duties, work hours, compensation, benefits, and workplace policies.

Constructive discharge: This involves a situation where an employee resigns because working conditions are so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel forced to quit. Although the employee resigns, the law treats it as wrongful termination by the employer.

Employment contract: This is a legally binding agreement between an employer and an employee that outlines the terms of employment. It may include job responsibilities, salary, benefits, and conditions for termination.

Good faith: In employment law, good faith requires employers and employees to act honestly, fairly, and without deceit in their dealings with each other.

Implied contract: An unwritten but legally enforceable agreement that is created by the conduct, actions, or statements of the employer and employee.

Independent contractor: A self-employed worker hired to perform a specific service for a business. Unlike employees, independent contractors typically control their own work, use their own tools, and handle their own taxes and benefits.

Layoff: The temporary or permanent termination of employment by an employer, usually for business reasons like economic downturns or restructuring. Employment that ends in a layoff may lead to rehiring.

Noncompetition agreement: A contract, often called a “non-compete,” in which an employee agrees not to work for a competing employer or start a competing business for a specified period of time after leaving their job. Some states have made this practice illegal.

Right-to-work law: State laws that make it illegal to require an employee to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. These laws vary by state and do not apply in every jurisdiction.

Telecommuting: A work arrangement where an employee works from a remote location, such as their home, rather than commuting to a central office.

Wrongful Termination: The firing of an employee for an illegal reason. This can include violating an employment contract, terminating someone based on discrimination (e.g., race or gender), or firing someone in retaliation for reporting misconduct.

Wages, Benefits, and Leave

This section defines different forms of compensation, employee benefits, and pay-related concepts.

Back pay: A type of monetary damages awarded in a lawsuit that represents the wages and benefits an employee would have earned if they had not been illegally fired or denied a promotion.

Cafeteria plan: An employee benefits plan that allows workers to choose from a “menu” of different benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off, up to a certain dollar amount.

Comparable worth: A concept holding that jobs of equal value or contribution to an employer should receive equal pay, regardless of the gender of the employee.

Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP): An employer-provided benefit that allows employees to buy stock in the company under certain favorable terms.

Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Employee: These are classifications under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week. Exempt employees, who typically hold salaried administrative, professional, or executive jobs, are not eligible for overtime pay.

Front pay: A type of monetary damages awarded in a lawsuit for lost future earnings, often granted when reinstatement to the employee’s former job is not practical.

Garnishment of wages. A legal procedure where a court orders an employer to withhold a portion of an employee’s earnings to pay off a debt.

Individual retirement account (IRA). An IRA is a tax-deferred savings account that lets individuals contribute up to a set maximum amount each year.

Minimum wage: The lowest hourly rate that employers are legally required to pay their employees. While the federal rate sets the absolute minimum, states and city governments can set higher minimum wage rates.

Overtime compensation: The higher rate of pay required for non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Under federal law, overtime pay is at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular rate of pay.

Pension plan: A retirement savings account set up by employers to provide income for employees after they retire, often involving contributions from both the employer and employee.

Severance pay: Compensation and/or benefits that an employer may offer to an employee upon termination of their employment. It is not generally required by law but is often offered during layoffs.

Social Security: A federal retirement, disability, and survivor benefits program funded through taxes on employees’ income.

Stock options: A benefit that gives an employee the right to purchase a certain number of shares of the company’s stock at a predetermined price for a limited time.

Tuition reimbursement: An employee benefit where the employer pays for all or part of an employee’s tuition for job-related coursework or training programs.

Discrimination and Harassment

These terms relate to illegal bias and misconduct in the workplace.

Hostile working environment: A workplace where an employee is subjected to unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic (like race or sex) that is so severe or pervasive it interferes with their ability to do their job. A hostile working environment is often a claim in harassment lawsuits.

National origin discrimination: Treating an applicant or employee unfavorably because of their ethnicity, accent, or country of origin, which is banned by laws like Title VII.

Reasonable Accommodation: A modification or adjustment to a job or work environment that enables a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to perform their job, which employers must provide unless it causes “undue hardship.”

Retaliation: When an employer takes an adverse action (such as firing or demoting) against an employee for engaging in a legally protected activity, such as filing a discrimination complaint.

Sexual harassment: Illegal and unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment or creates a hostile work environment. Sexual harassment includes “quid pro quo” harassment, where an employment decision is based on an employee’s submission to or rejection of sexual advances. “Quid pro quo” basically means “this for that.”

Workplace Safety and Legal Disputes

This section covers terms related to maintaining a safe workplace and resolving legal conflicts.

Arbitration: A method of resolving disputes outside of court where both sides present their case to a neutral third party (the arbitrator) for a decision. In arbitration, the decision is often legally binding.

Common law: Law that is developed through court decisions over time, rather than from laws passed by a legislature. It’s also known as “case law.”

Employee assistance program (EAP): A confidential, employer-sponsored program designed to help employees with personal or work-related problems that may impact their job performance.

Labor law: The body of law that governs the relationships between employers, employees, and labor unions. Labor law regulates activities like collective bargaining, strikes, and union elections.

Mitigation: The legal duty of a person who has been wronged to take reasonable steps to minimize the extent of their damages, like seeking a new job after a wrongful termination.

Occupational disease: An illness or medical condition that is caused by exposure to a hazard in the workplace.

Whistleblower: An employee who reports illegal or unethical activities within their company to authorities. Whistleblowers have protections under state and federal law against retaliation.

Workers’ compensation: A state-mandated insurance program that provides wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured on the job. Workers’ compensation protects workers by covering medical expenses while protecting employers from lawsuits related to workplace injuries.

Need Legal Help?

If you have more questions, meeting with an employment lawyer can provide you with the legal advice you need to resolve your employment law inquiries.