The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) was passed to eliminate detrimental labor conditions from the American workplace. The FLSA, which governs most employers engaged in interstate commerce, has four major components: a minimum wage requirement, overtime pay requirements, child labor restrictions, and record keeping directives.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, religion, or national origin. Under a disparate treatment theory, which the Supreme Court has described as the most easily understood type of discrimination, an employer simply treats some people less favorably than others because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Proof of discriminatory motive is critical. Thus, preferential or differential treatment of individuals because of their race runs afoul of the statutory prohibition.
Several decades ago, the question of whether employers could monitor employees' communications was relatively simple. It was fairly well established that while employers could monitor business calls, they could not, with a few limited exceptions, eavesdrop on employees' personal phone calls. Today, employee communication has become high tech..
Pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) creates and enforces safety standards for American workplaces. These standards, which are categorized by industry, apply to nearly all private American employers. Once a safety standard has been enacted and published in the Federal Register, employers are required to follow it. OSHA conducts periodic inspections to ensure that the standards are being followed. Employers who fail to comply are subject to fines and other penalties.
the Undue Hardship Defense)
