Free Legal Updates at Nolo.com Attorneys Lisa Guerin & Amy DelPo • Americans with Disabilities Act • Age Discrimination in Employment Act • Fair Labor Standards Act • Family and Medical Leave Act • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act Federal Employment Laws The Essential Guide to “A very thorough, very usable handbook for HR.” ATTORNEY MARIA GRECO DANAHER Chair, Employment and Labor Law Group, Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, PC 3RD EDITION N O L O ®  e Story Dear friends, Founded in 1971, and based in an old clock factory in Berkeley, California, Nolo has always strived to off er clear legal information and solutions. Today we are proud to off er a full range of plain-English law books, legal forms, software and an award-winning website. Everything we publish is relentlessly researched and tested by a dedicated group of in-house legal editors, who together have more than 150 years’ experience. And when legal changes occur after publication, we promptly post free updates at Nolo.com. 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Guerin, Lisa, 1964-  e essential guide to federal employment laws / by Lisa Guerin and Amy DelPo.—3rd ed. p. cm. Includes index. Summary: “Covers 20 major federal employment laws with detailed information on what each requires, who it covers, deadlines and necessary paperwork, and related state laws.  e 3rd edition includes regulation changes, new court cases, and updated state law charts”—Provided by publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1379-6 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 1-4133-1379-5 (pbk.) ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1509-7 (epub e-book) 1. Labor laws and legislation—United States—Popular works. I. DelPo, Amy, 1967- II. Title. KF3455.G835 2011 344.7301—dc22 2010052769 Copyright © 2006, 2009, and 2011 by Nolo. All rights reserved. The NOLO trademark is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Printed in the U.S.A. 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Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank: Jake Warner, who came up with the idea that turned into this book. His encouragement and advice were invaluable. Janet Portman, for helping us trim the fat, explain the technicalities, and bring this material down to earth. Albin Renauer, for his amazing database and his help in organizing the book. Laura Lawson and Margaret Clark, for their thoughtful comments and assistance on the first edition. Christopher Anzalone, manager of book publishing, and Allen Smith, manager for workplace law content, and our other reviewers from the Society for Human Resource Management, for their assistance and insightful comments. Attorney Dan Feinberg of Sigmund, Lewis and Feinberg in Oakland, California, and Attorney Lee Trucker of Trucker Huss in San Francisco, California, for their generous assistance. Ella Hirst, for her unsurpassed research skills and for creating most of the 50-state charts that appear in this book. Alayna Schroeder and Drew Wheaton, for updating and streamlining the state material. Stan Jacobsen, for his research assistance and general good cheer. Susan Putney, for making the book look good. Table of Contents Overview Which Laws Your Company Must Follow 4 Basic Compliance Tools 17 If You Need More Information 24 Updates 25 1 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) Overview of the ADEA 28 How the ADEA Is Enforced 38 Complying With the ADEA 39 Agency Resources 41 State Laws Relating to Age Discrimination 42 2 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Overview of the ADA 44 How the ADA Is Enforced 62 Complying With the ADA 62 Agency Resources 63 State Laws Relating to DisabilityDiscrimination 65 3 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) Overview of COBRA 68 How COBRA Is Enforced 89 Complying With COBRA 90 Agency Resources 92 State Laws Relating to Health Coverage Continuation 93 4 Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Overview of the EPPA 109 Major Provisions of the EPPA 114 How the EPPA Is Enforced 129 Complying With the EPPA 130 Agency Resources 133 State Laws Relating to Polygraph Tests 133 5 Equal Pay Act (EPA) Overview of the EPA 140 How the EPA Is Enforced 147 Complying With the EPA 148 Agency Resources 150 State Laws Relating to Equal Pay 150 6 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Overview of the FCRA 153 Major Provisions of the FCRA 160 How the FCRA Is Enforced 173 Agency Enforcement 173 Complying With the FCRA 174 Agency Resources 175 State Laws Relating to Credit Reporting 176 7 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overview of the FLSA 178 Major Provisions of the FLSA 185 How the FLSA Is Enforced 197 Complying With the FLSA 199 Agency Resources 201 State Laws Relating to Wages and Hours 202 8 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Overview of the FMLA 222 Major Provisions of the FMLA 229 How the FMLA Is Enforced 252 Complying With the FMLA 253 Agency Resources 255 State Laws Relating to Family and Medical Leave 257 9 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) Overview of GINA 266 Major Provisions of GINA 269 How GINA Is Enforced 278 Complying With GINA 278 Agency Resources 278 State Laws Relating to GeneticDiscrimination 279 [...]... because they dictate how federal employment laws will be interpreted throughout the country Decisions by lower courts, such as the U.S Courts of Appeal and the U.S District Courts, are binding only in the states or regions those courts cover 5 6 The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws Which Federal Laws Apply Federal employment law consists of the statutes themselves, any regula­ tions issued by the. .. 25 2 The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws M ost managers and human resources professionals—particularly those who work for larger companies—have to deal with federal employment laws every day These laws reach into nearly every stage of the employment relationship, from hiring and firstday paperwork, to providing benefits and time off, to termination and layoffs Whether you are developing... providers to handle their obligations under these laws Outsourcing these responsibilities is a great way to maximize efficiency: Rather than spending weeks of your time trying to understand what these laws require, you can hire a company that specializes in compliance to take care of everything for you 21 22 The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws But use caution when hiring a third party to discharge... than bringing them to court (which they would otherwise have the right to do) And some laws allow unions and management to bend the rules in a CBA; for example, although some state laws require employers to give workers specified meal and rest breaks, many of these laws don’t apply to a workplace governed by a CBA Does Your Company Have Enough Employees? Many employment laws apply only to employers... employers 15 16 The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws Putting It All Together Here are a couple of examples to illustrate how to figure out which laws your company has to follow Example 1: The only manager of a four-employee graphic design company in Berkeley, California, wants to know what the company’s obliga­ ions are t to applicants with disabilities The federal Americans with Disabilities... by the federal agency responsible for enforcing and administering the law Many of the topics these laws cover are also addressed by state, and sometimes even local, laws If more than one law applies, employers generally have to follow whichever law federal, state, or local—is more beneficial to employees You can use this book to figure out which federal laws apply to your company, whether those laws. .. local laws require by talking to a local employment attorney State and local laws can be quite similar to federal employment laws: They cover similar topics, apply to only certain employers (often those with a minimum number of employees), and protect only certain types of employees However, state and local laws very often provide workers with more benefits—and apply to more employers 15 16 The Essential. .. whether the situation you’re facing is addressed by a federal employment law “Which Federal Laws Apply,” below, will help you get to this information quickly This book also provides some information on state laws, in the form of charts briefly describing the laws of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, at the end of some chapters However, you may have to do some research on your own—or talk to. .. business requirement) These rules are included in the chart, Laws That Apply by Size or Operations of Employer,” above All but the smallest local companies are engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of these laws For example, if your 9 10 The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws company buys, sells, or handles materials or products that have come from or will go to another state, or if... for the federal government are subject to additional employment laws We don’t cover those laws here This first chapter gives you the information you need to get the most out of this book First, we explain how to figure out which laws your company has to follow, including which federal laws apply to your company and when and how state and local laws might come into play Next, we cover a handful of practical . courts cover. 6 THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT LAWS Which Federal Laws Apply Federal employment law consists of the statutes themselves, any regula- tions issued by the federal agency. with these laws, such as consulting with a lawyer, documentation, and training. Finally, we explain what to do if you need more help. 4 THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT LAWS Which Laws. inadvertently violate the law. It can be tough to find out exactly what these federal laws require. That’s where this book comes in. It explains all of the major federal employment laws: whom they protect,