DEFINITION

• Employment Law covers employees' rights and obligations within the employer-employee relationship -- from wages and workplace safety to discrimination and wrongful termination.

• Federal law pre-empts state employment law on such issues as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Most states have laws that mirror or extend the provisions of federal law in areas such as discrimination, workplace privacy, contracts and wrongful discharge.

• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is the federal agency that regulates employer-employee relations by establishing collective bargaining, conducting union elections and prohibiting unfair labor practices.

FIND AN EMPLOYMENT LAW -- EMPLOYEE ATTORNEY IN YOUR AREA.

Learn more about EMPLOYEES' RIGHTS

RELATED PRACTICE AREAS

Personal Injury -- Plaintiff
Workers' Compensation

BUZZWORDS

ADA - (Americans With Disabilities Act) - Prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant who could perform a job despite a disability. The act also requires an employer to provide an accommodation (modified work hours or duties, or special equipment) if such an accommodation is not "unduly burdensome" and is necessary to help the employee perform.

Collective Bargaining - Negotiations between an employer and the representatives of organized employees for the purpose of determining the conditions of the employment, such as wages, hours and fringe benefits.

ERISA - (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) - The federal statute that regulates private pensions. Governs the funding, vesting, administration and termination of private pension plans.

OSHA - (Occupational Safety and Health Act) - Federal law enacted to reduce injuries, illnesses and death among workers resulting from their employment.

Unfair Labor Practices - Any act by a union or employer in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. For example, an employer's act that interferes with workers' attempts to organize or bargain collectively.

Union - A workers' organization formed to collectively negotiate with employers about such issues as salary, benefits, hours, and working conditions.

Wrongful Discharge - An at-will employee's cause of action against a former employer, alleging that his discharge was in violation of state or federal employment statutes.

PRACTICE AREA NOTES

• Employment lawyers (for the plaintiff) take on individual cases based on their merit. They will usually work on a contingency basis and receive about one-third of a settlement or jury award.