NATIONWIDE LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION

Employment law and labor law are not the same. Employment law governs how employers and employees interact and how the workplace should function. Labor law governs the regulations and rules for how businesses interact with unions and each other.

EEOC law protects job applicants and employees against retaliation. Employers may retaliate against an employee if they filed an EEOC complaint, talked to a supervisor about an employment or labor issue, including pay or overtime, resisted sexual advances, intervened to protect others from sexual advances, helped with an investigation, or refused to follow a supervisor’s directive that would have resulted in harassment or discrimination. If you have faced employer retaliation, you may have a case against your employer.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, sexual comments, comments about a person’s gender or sex, or requests for sexual favors. Commonly it is committed by someone in authority over the victim. Harassment does not need to be sexual but can include offensive comments regarding a person’s gender or sex. Harassment includes insults or ridicule, offensive jokes or displays of offensive objects or pictures, or physical threats or assaults.

Simple teasing or an offhand comment are not considered harassment. However, when the teasing or comments become frequent or severe and cause a hostile or offensive work environment, it is considered harassment or sexual harassment.

Men and women can either be victims or harassers, and the harasser and victim can be the same gender or sex. The harasser can be a direct supervisor, a supervisor side of the victim area, a co-worker, a client, or a customer.

This act protects workers from being underpaid and/or overworked. It determines how much an employee is paid (standard for minimum wage), overtime, how to maintain and record employment information correctly, and when and how many hours a young person can work.

The FMLA is a federal labor law allowing eligible employees an extended leave. This unpaid leave covers the adoption or birth of a child, caring for a qualifying sick family member, personal illness, and caregiving or other emergencies due to a family member’s active duty. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division oversees FMLA violations or false FMLA leave.

The EEOC enforces federal discrimination laws. Not all businesses or local or state governments are subject to EEOC laws. However, all federal agencies are subject to EECO laws. The laws enforced by the EEOC include:

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
• The Equal Pay Act (EPA)

OSHA ensures workplaces are safe for not only employees but also employers. It protects employees from being hurt or killed due to poor working conditions. OSHA sets and enforces cleanliness standards. Employers are responsible for providing a safe workplace and protections for their employees, such as providing employees with necessary personal protective equipment, providing health and safety training in a language an employee understands, and recording workplace injuries or illnesses.