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name: employment-labor description: Employment and labor law skill for workplace legal issues. Use when the user needs assistance with employment policies, workplace compliance, discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, FMLA, ADA, OSHA, non-competes, or labor relations. Triggers on keywords like "employment", "employee", "HR", "harassment", "discrimination", "termination", "FMLA", "ADA", "wage", "overtime", "non-compete", "severance", "OSHA", "labor union".

Employment & Labor Law

This skill provides expert guidance for employment law compliance, workplace policies, and labor relations.

Core Capabilities

1. Employment Policies

• Handbook drafting
• Policy development
• Compliance review
• Best practices implementation

2. Workplace Compliance

• Anti-discrimination
• Wage and hour
• Leave administration
• Safety compliance

3. Employee Relations

• Investigations
• Discipline and termination
• Severance agreements
• Restrictive covenants

4. Labor Relations

• Union organizing
• Collective bargaining
• Grievance handling
• NLRA compliance

Key Employment Statutes

Federal Laws

Statute	Coverage	Key Requirements
Title VII	15+ employees	No discrimination (race, color, religion, sex, national origin)
ADA	15+ employees	Disability accommodation, no discrimination
ADEA	20+ employees	Age discrimination (40+)
FMLA	50+ employees	12 weeks unpaid leave
FLSA	Most employers	Minimum wage, overtime
OSHA	Most employers	Workplace safety
ERISA	Benefit plans	Plan administration, fiduciary duties
COBRA	20+ employees	Continuation coverage
WARN	100+ employees	60-day layoff notice
NLRA	Private sector	Union rights, collective bargaining

State Law Considerations

• Many states have lower employee thresholds
• State minimum wages may exceed federal
• Additional protected classes
• Stricter leave requirements
• Pay transparency laws
• Ban-the-box laws
• Non-compete restrictions

Discrimination & Harassment

Protected Classes

Federal: Race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity), national origin, age (40+), disability, genetic information

Common State Additions: Marital status, military status, political affiliation, criminal history, source of income

Discrimination Framework

Disparate Treatment (Intentional)

1. Prima facie case (protected class, qualified, adverse action, inference)
2. Employer's legitimate non-discriminatory reason
3. Employee shows pretext

Disparate Impact (Unintentional)

1. Neutral policy with discriminatory effect
2. Business necessity defense
3. Less discriminatory alternative

Harassment Standard

Elements:

1. Unwelcome conduct
2. Based on protected characteristic
3. Severe or pervasive (altered work environment)
4. Objectively and subjectively offensive

Employer Liability:

• Supervisor harassment with tangible employment action: strict liability
• Supervisor harassment without tangible action: affirmative defense available
• Co-worker harassment: negligence standard

Investigation Protocol

1. Receive complaint
2. Determine scope and investigator
3. Plan investigation
4. Interview complainant
5. Interview accused
6. Interview witnesses
7. Gather documents
8. Analyze evidence
9. Make credibility determinations
10. Reach conclusions
11. Determine appropriate action
12. Document findings
13. Communicate outcomes
14. Follow up

Wage and Hour

FLSA Exemptions

Salary Basis: Minimum $684/week ($35,568/year)

Exemption	Primary Duty
Executive	Manage enterprise/department, supervise 2+ employees
Administrative	Office/non-manual work, exercise discretion on significant matters
Professional	Learned profession requiring advanced knowledge
Computer	Systems analyst, programmer, software engineer
Outside Sales	Customarily away from employer's place of business
Highly Compensated	$107,432+ total compensation, office work

Overtime Calculation

Regular Rate = Total Compensation ÷ Hours Worked
Overtime Rate = Regular Rate × 1.5
Overtime Pay = Overtime Rate × Hours over 40

Include in Regular Rate: Hourly rate, salary, non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, commissions Exclude: Discretionary bonuses, gifts, expense reimbursements, benefit plan contributions

Common Wage Issues

• Off-the-clock work
• Improper deductions from exempt salary
• Misclassification of exempt status
• Missed meal/rest breaks (state law)
• Tip pooling violations
• Independent contractor misclassification

Leave Administration

FMLA Requirements

Eligibility: 12 months employment, 1,250 hours in prior 12 months, 50 employees within 75 miles

Covered Reasons:

• Birth and care of newborn
• Placement for adoption/foster care
• Serious health condition of employee
• Serious health condition of family member
• Military caregiver/exigency

Employer Obligations:

• Provide eligibility notice (5 days)
• Provide rights and responsibilities notice
• Provide designation notice (5 days)
• Maintain health benefits
• Restore to same or equivalent position

Leave Tracking

Leave Type	Duration	Paid/Unpaid
FMLA	12 weeks/year	Unpaid (may use PTO)
Military Caregiver	26 weeks/12 months	Unpaid
ADA Accommodation	Case-by-case	Usually unpaid
Jury Duty	As needed	Varies by state
Voting	1-3 hours	Varies by state
Bereavement	Company policy	Usually paid

Termination

Termination Checklist

• Review personnel file
• Confirm at-will status or contract terms
• Check for protected leave or activity
• Analyze disparate impact
• Review recent complaints or protected activity
• Document legitimate business reason
• Prepare final pay (check state requirements)
• Prepare COBRA notice
• Prepare separation agreement (if applicable)
• Collect company property
• Disable access
• Conduct exit interview
• Process final paycheck

Final Pay Requirements

State	Voluntary Resignation	Involuntary Termination
California	72 hours (or immediately if 72-hour notice)	Immediately
New York	Next regular payday	Next regular payday
Texas	Next regular payday	6 days
Illinois	Next regular payday	Next regular payday

Severance Agreements

Key Components:

1. Consideration (severance amount)
2. General release of claims
3. ADEA compliance (21/45 days, 7-day revocation)
4. Return of property
5. Cooperation clause
6. Non-disparagement
7. Confidentiality
8. Non-compete/non-solicit (if enforceable)
9. References
10. Acknowledgments

OWBPA Requirements (ADEA Releases):

• Written in plain language
• Specifically refers to ADEA
• Doesn't waive future claims
• Provides consideration beyond existing entitlements
• Advises in writing to consult attorney
• 21 days to consider (45 for group)
• 7 days to revoke
• Group disclosure if applicable

Restrictive Covenants

Types

Covenant	Purpose	Typical Duration
Non-compete	Prevent competition	6 months - 2 years
Non-solicit (employees)	Prevent employee poaching	1-2 years
Non-solicit (customers)	Prevent customer diversion	1-2 years
Confidentiality	Protect trade secrets	Indefinite
Non-disparagement	Prevent negative statements	Indefinite

Enforceability Factors

1. Legitimate business interest
2. Reasonable geographic scope
3. Reasonable time limitation
4. Supported by consideration
5. Not against public policy

State Restrictions

Non-compete bans: California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma Significant restrictions: Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington

OSHA Compliance

General Duty Clause

"Furnish each employee employment and place of employment free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm"

Key Requirements

• Written safety programs (industry-specific)
• OSHA 300 log (11+ employees)
• Hazard communication program
• Personal protective equipment
• Emergency action plan
• Injury reporting (fatalities within 8 hours, hospitalizations within 24 hours)
• Employee training
• Post required notices

Integration with Other Skills

• litigation: Employment litigation defense
• compliance-tracking: Regulatory compliance
• contract-lifecycle: Employment agreements
• corporate-ma: Employee matters in transactions
• legal-research: Employment case law

Reference Files

For detailed guidance:

• references/handbook-template.md - Employee handbook template
• references/investigation-guide.md - Investigation procedures
• references/classification-analysis.md - Exemption analysis guide