Employment Law Notes: A Comprehensive Guide to Key Acts and Regulations, Exams of Nursing

Download Employment Law Notes: A Comprehensive Guide to Key Acts and Regulations and more Exams Nursing in PDF only on Docsity! PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ The Clayton Act (1914) - ✅✅Prohibited mergers and acquisitions that lessened competition. Also restricts the use of injunctions against labor and legalized peaceful strikes, picketing, and boycotts. The Consumer Credit Protection Act (1968) - ✅✅Sets limits to the amount that can be garnished or withheld in any one week, and also prohibits employee dismissal because of garnishment for any one indebtedness. The Copeland "Anti-Kickback" Act (1934) - ✅✅Precludes a federal contractor or subcontractor from inducing an employee to give up any part of his or her wages to the employer for the benefit of having a job. The Copyright Act (1976) - ✅✅Offer protections of "original works" fo others many not print, duplicate, distribute, or sell their work. Protected is to the duration of the author's life plus 70 years for general copyrights and to 95 years for works made for hire and works copyrights before 1978. Clarify what the employee may be the author of in writing. The Davis-Bacon Act (1931) - ✅✅Requires contractors or subcontractors on federally funded or assisted construction projects over $2000 to pay wages and fringe benefits at least equal to those paid in the local area where the construction is performed. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) - ✅✅Offered variety of mandates including a non-binding vote for shareholders on executive compensation, global parachutes, and return of PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ executive compensation based on inaccurate financial statements. Also, CEO pay compared to employee pay must be reported, and financial rewards are to be offered to whistleblowers. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) (2001) - ✅✅Modified Internal Revenue Code to adjust pension vesting schedules, increasing retirement plan limits, permitting pre-tac catch-up contributions by participants over the age of 50 in certain plans, and modification of distribution and rollover rules. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) (1986) - ✅✅Provides rules for access, use, disclosure, interpretation, and privacy protections of electronic communications, and provide the possibility of both civil and criminal penalties for violations. They prohibit interception of emails in transmission and access to e-mails in storage. The implications for HR have to do with recording employee conversations. Warnings such as "This call may be monitored or recorded for quality purposes" are intended to provide the notice required by this legislation. Having cameras in the workplace to provide the notice is also required bu this legislation. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988) - ✅✅Prohibited the use of lie detector tests for job applicants and employees of companies engaged in PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ Records to be maintained: - Employee's full name and Social Security number. - Address, including zip code. - Birth date, if younger than 19. - Sex - Occupation. - Time and day of week when employee's workweek begins. - Hours worked each day and total hours each workweek (include all break times). - Basis on which employee's wages are paid (hourly, weekly, piecework). - Regular hourly pay rate. - Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings. -Total overtime earnings for the workweek. - All additions or deductions from the employee's wages. - Total wages paid each pay period. - Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment. PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ More on Child Labor regulations, and this law is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (1997) - ✅✅Prohibits American companies from making bribery payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) (2009) - ✅✅Requires that anyone with custody of personal health records send notification to affected individuals if their personal health records have been disclosed, or the employer believes they have been disclosed, to any unauthorized person. This law made several changes to HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (1996) - ✅✅Ensures that individuals who leave or lose their jobs can obtain health coverage even if they or someone in their family has a serious illness or injury, or is pregnant. Also provides privacy required related to medical records for individuals as young as 12 years old. It also limits the exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and guarantees renewability of health coverage to employers and employees, allowing people to change job without the worry of loss of coverage. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (1952) - ✅✅Defines the conditions for the temporary and permanent employment of aliens in the United PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ States. It defines an "alien" as any person lacking citizenship or status as a national of the United States. It differentiates aliens as: - Resident or nonresident. - Immigrant or nonimmigrant. - Documented and undocumented. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) (1986) - ✅✅Requires new employees to prove both their identity and right to work in this country. Regulations implementing this law created the Form I-9. There are document retention requirements, and discrimination against job applicants on the basis of national origin or citizenship is prohibited. Penalizes employers who hire illegal aliens. The IRS Intermediate Sanctions (2002) - ✅✅Allows the IRS to impose penalties when it determines that top officials from non-profit organizations have received excessive compensation from their organizations. Intermediate sanctions may be imposed either in addition to or instead of revocation of the exempt state of the organization. The Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA) (1947) - ✅✅Also called the Taft-Hartley Act, this law prohibited unfair labor practices by unions and outlaws closed shops, where union membership is required to get and keep a job. Employers may not form closed shop agreements with unions. PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ encouraging invention of new devices that will reduce or eliminate the risk associated with injury due to sharps. Sharps injuries are to be recorded on the OSHA 300 log. The Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932) - ✅✅Established to restore union tools of strikes and boycotts to force employers to bargain issues unions saw as important. Key provisions of this law include: - It prohibited "yellow-dog" contracts, where employees promise employers that they would not join unions. - It prohibited federal courts from issuing injunctions of any kind against peaceful strikes, boycotts, or picketing when used by a union in connection with a labor dispute. - It defined labor dispute to include any disagreement about working conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) (1970) - ✅✅Established an administrative agency known as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enforce safety regulations and create standards of safety to be applied by all employers. Employers are required to log all injuries that occur on the job, and much more. (SEE BOOK) The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) (1993) - ✅✅Reduces compensation limits in qualified retirement programs and increased activity PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ in nonqualified retirement programs. Also calls for the termination of some plans. The Pension Protection Act (PPA) (2006) - ✅✅Requires employers that have under-funded pension plans to pay a higher premium to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). Impacted nearly all aspects of retirement planning, including changes to rules about Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996) - ✅✅Requires all states to establish and maintain a New Hire Reporting System to enhance enforcement of child support payments. It requires all welfare recipients to begin working after two years of receiving benefits. States may exempt parents with children under age one from the work requirements. Still subject to 5 year time limit for cash assistance. HR professionals need to establish and maintain reporting systems to meet tracking requirements. The Portal-to-Portal Act (1947) - ✅✅Defines "hours worked" and establishes rules about payment of wages to employees who travel before and/or after their scheduled work shift. (Cannot be paid for driving to and from work). This act was later amended by the SBJPA which address company cars as being considered work time when used. PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ The Railway Labor Act (1926) - ✅✅Created to allow railway employees to organize into labor unions. Has been expanded to airline employees in recent years. The Rehabilitation Act (1973) - ✅✅Created support for states to establish vocational rehabilitation programs. The term originally used was "handicapped" and was later changed to "disabled" by this legislation. The Retirement Equity Act (1984) - ✅✅Provides certain legal protections for spousal beneficiaries of qualified retirement programs. It prohibits changes to retirement plan elections, spousal beneficiary designations, or in-service withdrawals without the consent of a spouse. The Revenue Act (1978) - ✅✅Added two important actions to the Internal Revenue Tax Code relevant to employee benefits: Section 125, Cafeteria Benefit Plans, and Section 401(k), originally pre-tax savings program for private sector employees known as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), subsequently expanded to a second plan opportunity known as "Roth IRA" that permitted funding with after-tax savings. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) (2002) - ✅✅Brought strict oversight to corporate governance and financial reporting for publicly held companies. It holds corporate officers accountable for proper recordkeeping and reporting of financial information, including internal control systems to assure those systems are working properly. Must report all unexpected changes in PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. - Medicare Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled. - Medicaid Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs. - Supplemental Security Income (SSI) - State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Tax Reform Act (1986) - ✅✅Made extensive changes to the IRS tax code, including a reduction in tax brackets and all tax rates for individuals. Payroll withholdings were affected, many passive losses and tax shelters were eliminated, and changes were made to the alternative minimum tax computation. Also required all dependent children to have social security numbers to reduce fraud. This applies to exemptions claimed by W-4 The Taxpayer Relief Act (1997) - ✅✅Resulted in the creation of new savings programs called Roth IRAs and Education IRAs to give people better tax positions. The Trademark Act (1946) - ✅✅Created federal protections for trademarks and service marks. It set forth requirements for registering a trademark or service mark to obtain those legal protections. HR should train employees on how to properly handle organizational trademarks. PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ The Unemployment Compensation Amendments Act (UCA) (1992) - ✅✅This law established 20 percent as the amount to be withheld from payment of employee savings accounts when leaving an employer and not placing funds (rolling over) into another tax-approved IRA or 401(k). The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) (1994) - ✅✅Provides instructions for handling employees who are in the reserves or receiver orders to report for active duty. It requires that employers continue to pay for benefits to the extend they did while working and also continue giving credit for length of service as though military service was equivalent to company service. The law applies to: Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard. The Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) (1974) [as amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act (JVA) (2008)] - ✅✅Covered veterans include: Disabled veterans, veterans who served in the military during a war or campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge was award, veterans who participated in military operation and received armed forced award, and recently separated veterans. These requirements apply to all federal PHR/SPHR Employment Law Notes Latest Update 2023/2024 RATED A+ contractors with a contract valued at $25,000 or more, regardless of number of employees. All employers subject to the law must post their job openings with their local state employment service, unless - The job will last 3 days or less; - The job will be filled by an internal candidate; - The job is a senior executive position. The Wagner-Peyser Act (1933) [as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998] - ✅✅Created a nation-wide system of employment offices known as Employment Services Offices. These offices provided job seekers with assistance and also searched job for Unemployment Insurance recipients. The Walsh-Healey Act (Public Contracts Act) (1936) - ✅✅Designed to assure the government paid a fair wage to manufacturers and supplies of federal goods for federal government contracts in excess of $10,000 each. The provisions of the law included: overtime pay requirements, minimum wage equal to prevailing wage, and prohibition of employing a current convict or person under 16. Defense Authorization Act (1968) later excluded the overtime pay.