Understanding Federal Employment Laws
Long Beach and Los Angeles employment attorneys from Felahy & Associates provide information about federal employment laws to help you better understand your legal rights.
Federal and state laws regulate just about every aspect of work, including hiring, the terms and conditions of employment, and the circumstances under which employees can be terminated. Under these laws, employees are protected against discrimination and harassment and employers are provided with guidelines for protecting employee’s rights. Sometimes employment laws overlap and citizens may pursue lawsuits under either state or federal employment laws. You should discuss your rights under the law with a qualified labor law attorney who can interpret the laws as they apply to the specifics of your employment dispute.
Federal Employment and Anti-Discrimination Laws
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII prohibits discrimination by covered employers on the basis of gender, race, color, or religion, and has been supplemented to prohibit age, pregnancy and disability discrimination and includes sexual harassment as sexual discrimination.
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects physically or mentally impaired individuals from workplace discrimination. The ADA defines disabled persons as those who are impaired to a degree that substantially limits normal activities and includes vision and hearing problems, mental illnesses, muscular disorders or impairment that require reliance on a cane or walker or confinement to a wheelchair. Under the ADA, a disabled American is extensively protected from discriminatory acts pertaining to pay and benefits and pre-employment activities, and prohibits employers from entering into contracts with other companies that would discriminate against the disabled. Employers with 15 or more employees must conform to ADA regulations.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects individuals over the age of forty from workplace discrimination based upon their age. The Act protects employees against discriminatory treatment from their employers in regard to hiring, promotion and termination based on age. The ADEA applies only to companies that employ at least twenty employees.
Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985
Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) protects individuals who are no longer working (whether fired, resigned, or laid off) from losing coverage under a group health plan. The Act requires employers with twenty or more employees to offer continuation of coverage to terminated workers.
Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act mandates "equal pay for equal work” and protects employees performing the same job from wage payment discrimination based on gender.
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) contains detailed requirements for disclosure, reporting and payment obligations for certain employers who offer their employees health insurance or retirement plans.
Family Medical Leave Act
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers to provide their employees with up to twelve weeks of unpaid family leave each year due to the birth or adoption of a child, due to their own serious health condition or to attend to that of an immediate family member. The FMLA also requires that, after the employee returns to work, the employee be reinstated to the same job or an equivalent position. Employers with fifty employees or more must comply with FMLA requirements.
The Los Angeles labor litigation attorneys at Felahy & Associates are committed to interpreting the federal labor laws and providing quality legal advice and representation for their clients with workplace discrimination issues and disputes pertaining to employee rights and benefits.
Contact our Long Beach or Los Angeles federal employment attorneys today for more information at 888.701.5124, or complete our web form.
