General Labor Laws for Employers

Introduction:

This special report covers labor laws for the following areas:

• Employment of youth labor
• Family medical leave
• Employment eligibility
• State payday requirements
• State meal period requirements

Youth Labor

• For federal youth rules, return to Archives Directory and select the separate special report on teen labor.
• For state youth rules, refer to: http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/nonfarm.htm

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

Covered employers (http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_825/29CFR825.104.htm) must grant an eligible employee (http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_825/29CFR825.110.htm) up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:

• for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee;
• for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
• to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
• to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

Employment Eligibility

Citizens and nationals of the U.S. are automatically eligible for employment but they must present proof of employment eligibility and identity and complete an Employment Eligibility Verification form (Form I-9), see http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-9.htm

The federal Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is used by employers as a record of their basis for determining eligibility of an employee to work in the United States. The form is kept by the employer and made available for inspection by officials of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Department of Labor and the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices.

Citizens of the U.S. include persons born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Nationals of the U.S. include persons born in American Samoa, including Swains Island.

Form I-9 is completed only for people actually hired. For purposes of the I-9 rules, a person is "hired" when he or she begins to work for wages or other compensation; remuneration is anything of value given in exchange for labor or services rendered by an employee, including food and lodging.

An employee who fails to produce the required document(s), or a receipt for a replacement document(s) (in the case of lost, stolen or destroyed documents), within three (3) business days of the date employment begins may be fired. However, these practices must be uniformly applied to all employees. If an employee has presented a receipt for a replacement document(s), he or she must produce the actual document(s) within 90 days of the date employment begins.

An employer must examine the document(s) and, if they reasonably appear on their face to be genuine and relate to the person presenting them, you must accept them. To do otherwise could be an unfair immigration-related employment practice. If a document does not reasonably appear on its face to be genuine and to relate to the person presenting it, you must not accept it. Employees must present original documents. Photocopies are not acceptable; the only exception is an employee may present a certified copy of a birth certificate.

You cannot be charged with a verification violation if a Form I-9 is properly completed and the BICE discovers that the employee is not actually authorized to work. However, such employee cannot continue to be employed. What is my responsibility concerning the authenticity of document(s) presented to me?

State Payday Requirements: http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/payday.htm

State Meal Period Requirements: http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/meal.htm

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