Glossary Employment Terms

Glossary Of Employoment Terms...

A - B - C - D -E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - V - W

Affirmative Action - Applies to companies that have more than 50 employees or that have government contracts exceeding $50,000. It is a written plan committing a business to hire minorities, women, persons with disabilities and veterans in proportion with their representation in the community where the business is located. It is the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act ( ADEA) - Prohibits discrimination against workers over 40.

Americans with disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. It applies to employers with fifteen or more employees.

Aptitude test - A test to determine the potential of a person in specific areas, used for screening to determine if an individual has the aptitude for the type of work you are hiring them for.

Body language - Communicating not only with words but with gestures, facial expressions and movements.

Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (FFOQ) - Having clear cut reasons for hiring a specific gender for a job.

Child Labor Laws - The child labor provisions include restrictions on hours of work and occupations for youths under age 16. These provisions also set forth 17 hazardous occupations orders for jobs that the Secretary has declared too dangerous for those under age 18 to perform. Youths age 14 and 15 may work outside school hours in various non manufacturing, non mining, non hazardous jobs no more than three hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, eight hours on a non-school day, or 40 hours in a non-school week. In addition, they may not begin work before 7 a.m. nor work after 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended until 9 p.m. Those enrolled in an approved Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP) may work up to 23 hours in school weeks and three hours on school days (including during school hours).

Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin discrimination. It applies to employers with fifteen or more employees.

Coasters - Employees who have gone as far as they can in job and are just coasting along until retirement.

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) - Employees of businesses employing more than 20 people are allowed to keep and pay for their insurance coverage for 18 months after they leave the business. They pay the premiums at the same rate as what the business they worked for had paid.

Constructive Discharge - An employee quitting because of deliberate unfair treatment on the job is "constructed" by the courts to be an involuntary termination.

Documentation - Written description of all disciplinary actions taken by a business to protect a business in a legal action.

Downsize - To lay employees off when business becomes slow.

Employee Assistance Program - A Counseling program sponsored by a business to help employees cope with personal problems affecting their productivity.

Employee stock ownership program - A program where the company's stock is sold, earned or given to employees allowing them to become part owners of the business.

Employment at will - An employee can quit without notice and an employer can fire without notice.

EMPLOYEE POLYGRAPH PROTECTION ACT OF 1988 - To prevent the denial of employment opportunities by prohibiting the use of lie detectors by employers involved in or affecting interstate commerce.

Equal Pay Act of 1963 - prohibits wage discrimination between men and women in substantially equal jobs within the same establishment

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) - The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, record‑keeping and child labor. The FLSA applies only to employers whose annual sales total $500,000 or more, or who are engaged in interstate commerce. It is the single law most often violated by employers. This law covers nearly all workplaces because the courts have interpreted the term interstate commerce very broadly. The courts have ruled that companies that regularly use the U.S. mail to send or receive letters to and from other states are engaged in interstate commerce. A Business that gets its products or food from another state also engages in interstate commerce.

Wage and Hour Division investigators will recommend changes in employment practices to bring the employer into compliance, and they will request payment of any back wages due to employees. Willful violators might be prosecuted criminally and fined up to $10,000. A second conviction can result in imprisonment. Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements can be subject to civil money penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. When the Department of Labor assesses a civil money penalty, the employer has the right to file an exception to the determination within 15 days of receipt of the notice. If an exception is filed, it is referred to an administrative law judge for a hearing and determination as to whether the penalty is appropriate. If an exception is not filed, the penalty becomes final. The Department of Labor may also bring suit for back pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages, and it may obtain injunctions to restrain persons from violating the Act.

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) - Requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to eligible employees for the birth or adoption of a child or for the serious illness of the employee or a family member of the employee. It applies to employers with fifty or more employees. To be eligible for FMLA leave, an individual must (1) be employed by a covered employer and work at a work site within 75 miles of which that employer employs at least 50 people; (2) have worked at least 12 months (which do not have to be consecutive) for the employer; and (3) have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately before the date FMLA leave begins.

FICA - Social security and Medicare taxes withheld from an employees' wages. Employers must also pay a matching amount of FICA taxes for their employees. Currently the social security tax rate is 6.2%. Employers are required to withhold 6.2% of an employee's wages for social security taxes and to pay a matching amount in social security taxes until the employee reaches the wage base for the year. The wage base for social security tax is $76,000 for the year 2000. Once that amount is earned, neither the employee or the employer owes any social security tax.

FUTA - State and Federal Unemployment Taxes (SUTA and FUTA). The FUTA rate is 6.2 %, but you can take a credit of up to 5.4% for SUTA taxes that you pay. If you are eligible for the maximum credit your FUTA rate will be 0.8%. The wage base for FUTA is $7,000. Employers stop paying FUTA for each employee once his/ her wages exceed $7,000 for the year. Check with your state about SUTA tax rates and the wage base. Generally, your SUTA tax rate is based on the amount of unemployment claims that are filed by employees that you have terminated. When your business is new, your SUTA tax rate starts at the maximum and declines if you build a history of few claims.

G

Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) - Employers can only hire persons who can legally work in the U.S. (citizens and nationals of the U.S. and aliens authorized to work in the U.S). Employers must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone to be hired, which includes completing the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9). Employers must keep each I-9 on file for at least three years, or one year after employment ends, whichever is longer. Employers who fail to complete and/or retain the I‑9 forms are subject to penalties. The Immigration Reform and Control Act prohibits employers from discriminating in employment on the basis of citizenship or national origin. The law applies to employers with as few as four employees.

Layoff - Termination of and employee permanently or for a period of time due to lack of business or restructuring.

Medicare tax - Employers withhold 1.45% of an employee's wages and pay a matching amount for Medicare tax. There is no wage base for the Medicare portion of the FICA tax. Both the employer and the employee continue to pay Medicare tax, no matter how much is earned.

OSHA Act of 1970 - To assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women; by authorizing enforcement of the standards developed under the Act; by assisting and encouraging the States in their efforts to assure safe and healthful working conditions; by providing for research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health; and for other purposes.

Payroll taxes - The state and federal taxes an employer is required to withhold and/or to pay on behalf of their employees. Employers are required to withhold state and federal income taxes as well as social security and Medicare taxes from their employees' wages. They are also required to pay a matching amount of social security, Medicare taxes and State and a Federal unemployment tax.

Performance Standards - The results expected from persons performing a job.

Religious practices - Practices that include traditional religious beliefs and moral and ethical beliefs.

Results Oriented Evaluation System - System in which expectations are agreed on at the beginning and measured at the end when new goals are set for the next time period.

Sexual harassment - Any unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or any conduct of a sexual nature when an employer makes submission to sexual advances a term or condition of employment either initially or later on; or when submission or rejection is used as a basis of working conditions, including promotion, salary adjustment, assignment of work and termination or that has the effect of interfering with an individual's work or creating a hostile or intimidating work environment.

Stress - A chronic state of anxiety caused by unremitting pressures of job, personal or societal problems.

Training Manuals - Handbooks for teaching routine tasks; they make the training processes easy for both trainer and trainees and can be used as a reference by the employee when needed.

WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) - A law that applies to companies employing more than 100 when a mass layoff or closing occurs. The employees must have at least 60 days notice before their final day of work.