About Employment Law

Today there are over 105 million workers employed in the United States by some 7 million employers. Despite these huge numbers, workplace safety has improved over the last 30 years. Through the efforts of industry and government agencies such as the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), American workers are better protected than ever before.
Despite this, there were nearly 6 million occupational injuries and illnesses among U.S. workers in 1999 alone. Put differently, 6 out of every 100 workers experienced a job-related serious injury or illness. 6,023 workers died on the job.

Some employers still use shoddy equipment, practice poor safety procedures and fail to provide their employees proper training. In addition, other non-physical workplace injuries such as sexual harassment and racial discrimination are receiving increased attention. You work hard for your employer. In turn, your employer should work hard to see that you are treated with the dignity and respect that you deserve.

Employment law is a broad area encompassing all areas of the employer/employee relationship except the negotiation process covered by labor law and collective bargaining. See, Labor Law & Collective Bargaining and Arbitration. Employment law consists of thousands of Federal and state statutes, administrative regulations, and judicial decisions. Many employment laws (e.g., minimum wage regulations) were enacted as protective labor legislation. Other employment laws take the form of public insurance, such as unemployment compensation.

Specific areas within the broad category of employment law covered under their own topical entries include:

• Collective Bargaining
• Employment Discrimination
• Unemployment Compensation
• Pensions
• Workplace Safety
• Worker's Compensation