Consolidated
Omnibus
Budget
Reconciliation
Act (COBRA)
Mandates that employees who are terminated must be provided with the opportunity
to continue to participate in group health insurance, so long as they agree to pay the
group rate premium. The employer is required to notify employees of their COBRA
rights.
Employee
Retirement
Income
Security Act
(ERISA)
This Act covers any pension plan offered by employers to their workers, and is designed
to prevent abuses and fraudulent use of those plans. Under the terms of ERISA,
employers are required to keep certain records pertaining to the plans, and to report on
those records at regular intervals. The Act also provides for vesting, which occurs when
an employee has a nonforfeitable right to receive pension benefits.
Unemployment
compensation
Unemployment compensation programs are paid to those who become temporarily
unemployed, and are funded by employers through employment taxes. Workers who
quit voluntarily or who are terminated for bad conduct are not eligible for
compensation. In addition, in order to qualify for the benefits, applicants must
demonstrate that they are available for work.
Table 9.2
Immigration Law
There are vast areas of immigration law that are applicable to employment. The U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Service (USCIS) administers a range of different immigration programs that enable U.S.
employers to employ foreign national workers. For example, under the EB-1 visa, U.S. employers can employ
foreign nationals who have extraordinary ability for certain types of work. Under the terms of the
Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), employers are required to examine evidence of employees’
identity and complete mandatory paperwork for each employee. There are serious financial and criminal
penalties for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.
9.2
Labor Law
Labor relations is the general term used to describe the relationship between employers and employees, as
well as governance of that relationship. It refers to the micro-level interactions that take place between
workers and individual managers, as well as the macro-level relations that occur between the external
institutions that are tasked with governing such relations. This understanding of labor relations acknowledges
the fact that there is a plurality of interests that must be taken into account in the processes and procedures of
negotiation, bargaining, and dispute settlement relating to the workplace. It also recognizes that employees
and employers’ representatives are fundamental to the process of industrial relations, and that the state plays
a key role in the development of labor laws, the regulation of collective bargaining, and the administration of
disputes. There has been considerable flux and development in the nature of U.S. labor over the past century.
However, the most substantial changes have occurred since the 1950s. Changes have been particularly evident
in the role that the state has been expected to play in employment relations between workers, their
representatives, and their employers. This section introduces some of the key milestones in labor relations in
the United States, and describes the role played by trade unions in governing the relationship between
Chapter 9 Employment and Labor Law
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