What is employment law?

The federal floor

• FLSA — federal minimum wage, overtime at time and a half beyond 40 hours in a workweek for non-exempt employees, and child labor rules.
• Title VII, ADA, ADEA — discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, disability and age 40 and over. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (2023) adds accommodation rights for pregnancy-related limitations.
• FMLA — up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health conditions, a new child or family care, at employers with 50 or more employees.
• OSHA — workplace safety standards and the right to report hazards without retaliation.
• NLRA — the right to act together over working conditions, including discussing pay with coworkers, which covers non-union workplaces too.
• Equal Pay Act, USERRA for service members, and ERISA for benefit plans.

States and cities add more

About 30 states and many cities set a minimum wage above the federal $7.25. Many states require paid sick leave, paid family leave, meal and rest breaks, pay transparency in job postings, and protections for more characteristics — such as marital status, height and weight, or lawful off-duty conduct. Several restrict or ban non-compete agreements, and California voids them for most employees. Where federal and state law differ, the worker generally gets whichever gives more protection.

Employee or independent contractor?

Most of these protections apply only to employees. Whether a worker is an employee depends on the actual relationship, not the label: who controls the work, who supplies the tools, whether the worker runs an independent business, and how integral the work is to the company. Misclassification cases — often involving delivery drivers, construction workers and gig workers — can recover unpaid overtime, benefits and taxes.

Exempt vs. non-exempt

Being paid a salary does not by itself remove the right to overtime. To be exempt, an employee generally must earn at least the federal salary threshold and perform genuinely executive, administrative or professional duties. Many salaried workers with mainly routine duties — assistant managers who mostly run registers, for example — are misclassified and owed overtime.

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Employment at will, and its limits

In every state except Montana, employment is presumed to be at will: either side can end it at any time for any reason, or for no reason. The exceptions are what most cases are about — firing because of a protected characteristic, for taking protected leave, for reporting illegality or safety problems, for filing a workers' compensation claim, for serving on a jury or in the military, or in breach of an express contract or a policy that created one.

Deadlines

Discrimination claims start with an administrative charge — 180 days to the EEOC, or 300 where a state agency exists. Federal wage claims allow two years, or three for willful violations. Whistleblower statutes can be far shorter, some as little as 30 days. These deadlines end more claims than any defense does.

How claims are resolved

Many employment disputes are settled through an agency, at mediation or in negotiations over severance. Many employers require arbitration of disputes as a condition of employment; federal law now bars forced arbitration of sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. Employment lawyers often take discrimination and wage cases on contingency, and some statutes require the employer to pay the worker's attorneys' fees if the worker wins.

Practical first steps

Keep copies of your offer letter, contract, handbook, pay records and performance reviews — obtained before a dispute, not after. Put complaints in writing, and keep them factual and dated. Do not take confidential company documents beyond your own records. Read any severance agreement before signing: most contain a release of claims, and federal law gives workers over 40 at least 21 days to consider one (45 in group layoffs) and 7 days to revoke after signing.

Unemployment benefits

If you lose your job through no fault of your own, you can usually claim state unemployment benefits. Being fired for poor performance often still qualifies; being fired for serious misconduct or quitting without good cause often does not. Apply promptly, because benefits usually start from the date of the claim.