employment law

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) enforces federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination. The EEOC was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The employment section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as Title VII, prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion, and also prohibits employers from retaliating against any employee who exercises his or her rights under Title VII. Today, the EEOC enforces federal anti-discrimination statutes, and provides oversight and coordination of all federal equal opportunity regulations, policies, and practices.

Unemployment Compensation law: an overview

Unemployment insurance provides workers, whose jobs have been terminated through no fault of their own, monetary payments for a given period of time or until they find a new job. Unemployment payments are intended to provide an unemployed worker time to find a new job equivalent to the one lost without financial distress. Without employment compensation, many workers would be forced to take jobs for which they were overqualified or end up on welfare. Unemployment compensation is also justified by sustaining consumer spending during periods of economic adjustment.

Workers' Compensation: an overview

Workers' compensation laws protect people who are injured on the job. They are designed to ensure that employees who are injured or disabled on the job are provided with fixed monetary awards, eliminating the need for litigation. These laws also provide benefits for dependents of those workers who are killed because of work-related accidents or illnesses. Some laws also protect employers and fellow workers by limiting the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer and by eliminating the liability of co-workers in most accidents. State statutes establish this framework for most employment. Federal statutes are limited to federal employees or those workers employed in some significant aspect of interstate commerce.

Workplace safety: an overview

Workplace safety and health laws establish regulations designed to eliminate personal injuries and illnesses from occurring in the workplace. The laws consist primarily of federal and state statutes. Federal laws and regulations preempt state ones where they overlap or contradict one another.

Employment discrimination: an overview

Employment Discrimination laws seek to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age by employers. A growing body of law also seeks to prevent employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Discriminatory practices include bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, retaliation, and various types of harassment. The main body of employment discrimination laws consists of federal and state statutes. The United States Constitution and some state constitutions provide additional protection when the employer is a governmental body or the government has taken significant steps to foster the discriminatory practice of the employer.

government contracts law: an overview

The federal government is, by far, the largest contractor in the United States. It mainly contracts for consumer products (toothpaste, milk), services (contractor services, consulting agencies), and military products (stealth bombers, guns). Three characteristics set government spending apart from private spending. First, government contracts are heavily regulated to curb misappropriation of funds and ensure uniform policies and practices across agencies. Second, the contract terms are the product of careful drafting by teams of government attorneys and have often received distinct meaning through past contract adjudications. This means that a private concern contracting with the government is well advised to consult with an attorney knowledgeable about government contracts any time issues arise. And third, because of the government's special status disputes under government contracts follow a very different procedural path than those arising under private contracts.

Immigration law: an overview

Federal immigration law determines whether a person is an alien, the rights, duties, and obligations associated with being an alien in the United States, and how aliens gain residence or citizenship within the United States. It also provides the means by which certain aliens can become legally naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship.