Workplace Law Basics
What is 'labor law'?
Traditional labor law generally refers to wages and hours dealing with workers. It also covers unions and their relationships to the employers.
What is 'employment law'?
Employment law is a little bit different, and it covers that broad arena of the employer-employee relationship. It deals with the process of hiring and application, all the way through to separation of employment.
In the language of workplace law, how is 'employer' defined?
Employer is defined as a person, a corporation, a partnership, or an individual. It's a very broad definition and includes any person, or corporation or partnership that is in an employment relationship with an employee.
In the language of workplace law, how is 'employee' defined?
Employee, in California, is defined as a person who is either suffered or permitted to work. That is often deemed to be the case if you have a company that is aware that they have somebody doing work for them. That can establish the person as an employee. An employee is also a term used in opposite to independent contractor.
Does federal law prohibit certain employment practices?
Federal law does prohibit certain employment practices, as does state law. Every state has to abide by federal law, and then the states can enact more restrictive laws that are not in conflict with federal laws. California is an example of a state that has done that. Federal law does regulate discrimination, it does regulate harassment, it does regulate pension plans. There are many categories that are regulated by federal law.
What is 'at will' employment?
An at will employment relationship means that an employer or an employee, has the absolute right to terminate the relationship at any time and for any reason, except for the wrong reason. I can give an example of that. It cannot be for a discriminatory reason that you terminate. What it can be for is, for example, if an employee shows up one day and has a shade of lipstick that the employer doesn't like - the employer can decide to terminate the person based on that. However, the employer in an at will employment relationship cannot terminate somebody because she is a female.
What is 'for cause' employment?
“For cause” employment is essentially what the question is. It's a contractual relationship versus “at will” employment. A contractual relationship will often contain a provision that says the employee cannot be terminated, except for good cause. The employer and employee are therefore bound by the terms of that contract.
In additional to federal labor laws, do individual states have laws regarding employment?
In many states, the state law is even more restrictive than the federal law. California is a great example of that. California is very employee friendly, and the laws are very protective of the employee. You will definitely want to check with your local governmental agency or with your council to determine what the laws in that particular state are.
