What Are the Five Major Kinds of Employment Laws to Know?

Employment laws set the rules for workplaces. They govern issues like workplace safety, rates of pay, termination, resignation, family and medical leave and workplace harassment. The body of employment law places obligations on employers to treat employees fairly. It also places some responsibility on workers to act in accordance with certain practices.

Different employment laws apply depending on jurisdiction, unionization and other factors. Overall, key employment laws support an ethical and just workplace. It is critical to note that these labor laws typically exclude independent contractors, although federal government and state laws might offer protections for non-employee workers under different legal procedures.

As a workplace law professional, in-depth knowledge of the five major kinds of employment laws is fundamental to your work. This blog post provides an overview of the basics and offers a starting point for further education and research.

Certain employment laws protect employees from unfair treatment because of who they are. These anti-discrimination laws cover several key aspects of individual identity.

The Department of Labor requires employers to adhere to the requirements of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII and a collection of other laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin and other criteria. These regulations outline how employers must conduct hiring, treating job applicants fairly without bias based on their personal characteristics.¹

Anti-discrimination laws also prohibit workplace harassment. This means that the obligation to treat people fairly extends to what happens on the job. Workplace discrimination laws prohibit things such as the following:

• Sexual harassment between employees on the workplace site
• Exclusion or lack of opportunity offered to an employee because they belong to a certain religious community
• Preventing access to advancement because of a person’s national origin

Similarly, the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations so that a person with a disability can perform adequately in their job.²

There are also laws that govern how much and how often employers must pay their employees. These wage and hour laws set out rules on overtime pay, the minimum wage, maximum hours and several other standards. These govern how employees are compensated and how often they must work. Wage and hour laws also help prevent unethical child labor practices, with regulations that limit the time and number of hours children under a certain age may work. Child labor regulations can also differ between circumstances, as there might be exceptions for family-run small businesses.

Critically, there are different sets of laws in the United States that cover wage protections. An employer might have to follow state or federal wage laws. National standards like the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) might or might not apply depending on local state regulations and the nature of employment. Therefore, the applicability of the federal minimum wage and the set of eligible employees for the national minimum wage can differ depending on the workplace and location.³

Hourly workers may have different entitlements under these employment acts compared to salaried or commission-paid workers.

In addition to ensuring that workers are paid a certain amount and only work within specific hours, employment laws help support a safe workplace. Workplace safety laws cover the physical safety of people not only in jobs such as construction or manufacturing but also in office jobs. These laws come on top of family and medical leave entitlements that give people the right to be away from work for medical reasons.

Occupational safety is regulated by a government organization, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA mandates employer responsibility for safe working environments. Issues like hazardous chemicals, ergonomics and required safety gear might all be covered by health and safety employment laws.

Employees also have rights under OSHA, so these regulations protect employees from working in an environment that could cause them harm.

In addition to setting these rules, OSHA conducts workplace inspections to ensure the employer is providing those workplace safety protections. Therefore, it plays several roles in holding employers accountable for their responsibility to protect employees.⁴

Workplace benefits laws also protect eligible employees in the event they have to take time off for serious illness or medical reasons. The government mandates insurance programs that give employees security and peace of mind even in uncertain job markets.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) offers some protections so that people can take unpaid leave to deal with certain pressing personal issues.⁵ The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) also sets rules about pensions so that workers have some reassurance about the stability of the pensions that their employers offer.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) gives employees some health care protection, as it mandates that employees have continued health coverage even when they lose their benefits.

State laws might also set up an insurance system for workers’ compensation, so those who are injured on the job might have time off with benefits.

In addition to the state and federal laws that protect individual employees, there is a federal law that protects the rights of workers to form unions. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), also called the Wagner Act, allows for the formation of labor unions.⁶

Labor relations laws protect the right of workers to negotiate the terms of their employment together. This process, called collective bargaining, results in groups of employees who set out the terms of their employment in a detailed contract that covers things like protected leave, occupational safety and health, wages, benefits, overtime pay and others.

The NLRA is one of the labor laws that regulates the rights of collective bargaining in the US.

The legal regime in the US is complex and requires in-depth training to understand well. Tulane University’s online Master of Jurisprudence in Labor & Employment Law (MJ-LEL) offers a comprehensive and practical approach to education that prepares you for career advancement in employment regulation, without the need to earn a JD. Take courses on your own schedule and develop the legal expertise you need to drive change in any organization. Schedule an appointment with admissions to learn more.