Welcome back. Let's start with a reminder of where we are. The goal of this module is to emphasize that managing people isn't done in a vacuum. It's done as part of a complex system. So there's a set of constraints that managers need to be aware of. That was the focus of lesson one. Lesson two focused in on the legal parts of these constraints with a particular emphasis on the employment at will doctrine as a foundation for thinking about legal constraints. Now in this lesson, we're gonna build on that foundation and think about specific examples of employment and labor law that essentially place boundaries on the employment at will doctrine and therefore place legal boundaries on all managers. So this lesson will focus on three videos, and the first one, this one, will focus on US employment law. The second video will turn our attention to US labor law. And then the third video will present some international examples. So for starters you might be confused with the difference between what I'm calling employment law and labor law. Employment law focuses on the rights of workers as individuals. Labor law, by contrast, focuses on the rights of workers as groups or in collectives. In fact, in other places of the world, what we call employment law in the United States, is often called individual labour law elsewhere. And what we call US labor law is called collective labour law elsewhere. And I've intentionally included the u in labour in those terms, because in other countries that use these terms, they're probably also spelling labor with a u. If you've worked in a US workplace, hopefully you've seen a bulletin board with different workplace law posters. These capture most of what managers need to know, at least to get started. There are many more US employment laws, but managers can let their HR professionals worry about those other ones. So, I'm just gonna focus on a select few employment laws from the United States in this introductory video. The oldest of these employment laws in the United States is workers' compensation. Workers are entitled to medical coverage for an injury that happens on the job. If an injury occurs, make sure that medical attention is received, and that you notify your human resources department, so that the correct procedures are followed. Another longstanding employment law in the United States is the Fair Labor Standards act, dating back to the 1930s. This law specifies the nationwide minimum wage and overtime rate of 1.5 times of somebody's regular rate of pay for overtime hours after 40 hours in a week, and restricts child labor. Now many states have higher minimum wages than the federal minimum, and so you need to be aware of that as well. As a second complication, higher level employees are often exempt from the overtime pay regulations of US employment law. So you might often hear the term exempt employee. That means exempt from these overtime provisions. If you're a manager, you're likely an exempt employee, although it's not automatic. Overtime might be something that affects managers on a regular basis. Leaves and breaks are another area that can affect managers on a pretty frequent basis. At the federal level, the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, provides employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a variety of things. Including the birth and care of a newborn child, placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care. Also to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition, or to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of their own serious health condition. There aren't other federal requirements for leave, whether it's sick leave, paid holiday, vacation or breaks during work. However, various states do have some of those provisions, especially regarding break time while at work. Here's an example from Washington state, where employees are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break if they work more than five hours in a day, and they're also entitled to a 10-minute break if they work for at least three hours. So, these are state laws that you need to pay attention to as a manager. Safety and health is another area that's regulated by US employment law, and is another area that managers should clearly pay close attention to. This is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and there's also some state acts which regulate health and safety in the workplace as well. And so, under these laws, employers have a responsibility to provide a safe workplace, free of hazards, making sure employees know how to handle dangerous equipment, hazardous materials, provide safety training. You must report serious injuries and fatalities, you must keep records of work related injuries and illnesses in the workplace. Now last but certainly not least is nondiscrimination. I wanna emphasize a few things when it comes to equal employment opportunity or nondiscrimination. First, I wanna emphasize that this applies to applicants and employees. And I wanna emphasize that this pertains to what I called adverse employment actions in the previous video. So it's not just whether or not to hire or fire somebody, but it also pertains to promotion, benefits, training opportunities, job referrals, and the like. And non-discrimination refers to specific protected classes. So in the United States, based on federal law, it's illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, unless it presents an undue hardship, age, at least for individuals beginning at age 40, and it's also illegal to discriminate on the basis of union preference. Now states might also have additional protected classes. For example some states make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. So it's important that you pay attention to state laws as well. Now, non-discrimination is extremely important. So I'm gonna rewind and say it again. [SOUND] Now, last but certainly not least is non-discrimination. Wanna emphasize a few things when it comes to equal employment opportunity or non-discrimination. First, I wanna emphasize that this applies to applicants and employees. And I want to emphasize that this pertains to what I called adverse employment actions in the previous video. So it's not just whether or not to hire or fire somebody, but it also pertains to promotion, benefits, training opportunities, job referrals, and the like. And non-discrimination refers to specific protected classes. So, in the United States, based on federal law, it's illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability unless it presents an undue hardship, age, at least for individuals beginning at age 40, and it's also illegal to discriminate on the basis of union preference. Now, states might also have additional protected classes. For example, some states make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. So, it's important that you pay attention to state laws as well. Now, it's also illegal to pay unequal wages to women and men who perform essentially the same jobs. So equal pay for equal work is important not only in practice, but under the law as well. In this short video, we can't possibly cover all of US employment law, but I've tried to focus on a few laws that are most directly relevant to many managers. And even the short introduction you should emphasize that managers have special legal responsibilities. A manager should have special responsibilities. After all, employees are dependent on you for their well-being, for their hiring, for job opportunities, for advancement, for income and the like. So take these responsibilities seriously, and the law should not be a problem. Don't see the law simply as posters that you need to display. But rather manage in a respectful way that shows concern for the issues and the reasons that these laws exist in the first place.
