I) Employment

A) Contracts
a) Express Agreements
(i) usually involves a written agreement between an employer and prospective
employee
(ii) typically includes agreed payment and term of employment
1 if there are any fringe benefits (insurance, etc) these are also written
b) Implied Agreements
(i) at will employment hires a person to work for an indefinite amount of time and
can fire them at any time
c) Terms Imposed by Law
(i) jobs cannot pay less than the federal minimum wage (waiting tables is an
exception) and cannot require more than 80 hours/2 weeks without 1.5 hourly
compensation
1 an employee working a salary job is not protected by overtime
d) Expectations
(i) employees are required to obey reasonable orders of their employer, but cannot be
required to do anything illegal or immoral
(ii) employees hired to perform skills (welding, plumbing, etc) are expected to
perform with reasonable skill, and can be fired without warning if not
1 cannot fire someone for minor failures due to injury or illness
(iii)employees also have a reasonable expectation to keep work-related information to
themselves and to protect the company
B) Employer’s Duties
a) Reasonable Treatment
(i) cannot assault an employee, and to do so would give the injured employee the
standing to sue
b) Safe Working Conditions
(i) an employee has the right to expect reasonable safety precautions
c) Fair Labor Standards
(i) by federal law, employers must pay at least minimum wage and pay overtime if
requiring more than 80 hours per two weeks (there is no daily maximum)
d) Payroll Deductions
(i) employers must pay taxes for their employees, and therefore legally must keep
part of the employees’ checks to pay their taxes
C) Termination
a) Terminable at Will
(i) many contracts do not specify a time limit, and therefore can be terminated by
either the employer or employee for almost any reason
(ii) wrongful termination
1 an employer cannot fire employees for joining a union, refusing to break the
law, reporting violations of the law, etc
b) Contracts for Specified Time
(i) if either party ends employment before the term is up, they are in breach
(ii) if either party breaks part of the contract that was agreed upon, the other side can
terminate employment
II) Discrimination
A) Conditions of Employment
a) employers cannot hire, refuse to hire, or fire someone based on their race, religion,
sex, national origin, pregnancy, age, or disability
(i) some states also add sexual orientation, but not all
(ii) these guidelines are federal, though many states have also adopted them
B) Organizations Subject to Law
a) any business that employs fifteen or more employees and are engaged in interstate
commerce are subject to federal laws
C) Harassment
a) Quid Pro Quo
(i) means something for something
(ii) most often involves a boss requiring sexual favors for employment privileges
b) Hostile Environment
(i) a hostile environment exists when unwelcome sexual comments, gestures, or
contact occurs at work
(ii) employers can be held responsible if they are told about harassment and do
nothing to stop it
III) Injuries
A) Tort Liability
a) Negligence
(i) Reasonably Safe Working Conditions
1 if an employer fails to provide a safe workplace, safe tools, or safe machinery,
they are in violation of this law
2 if an employer doesn’t have enough employees to sufficiently and safely do a
job, they are in violation
(ii) Difficulties in Negligence Suits
1 often employees who have the right to sue won’t do so because of the cost of
hiring an attorney, they may be fired as a result of the lawsuit, or they think
they cannot prove employer negligence
b) Workers’ Compensation
(i) due to the difficulties in filing negligence lawsuits, states began passing laws in
the late 1800’s that required companies to get insurance that would pay if a
worker was injured on the job
1 these paid even if there was no negligence involved
 because of this, there was no longer any ability for the employee to sue
c) Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(i) often simply called OSHA
(ii) part of the executive branch that enforces safe labor laws
1 designed to prevent injury on the job