Questions tagged [labor-law]
For questions about groups in the workforce. Consider [employment] for questions concerning individuals in the workplace.
178
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What 'specific legal meaning' does the word "strike" have?
Over on main meta, on the post containing a statement from Stack Overflow about the current moderator action, there was a brief edit war over the inclusion (or not) of the word "strike" in ...
43
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4
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In Germany, is it allowed for an employer to ask an employee to quit his job and threaten to find a critical error to end the contract immediately?
My employer threatened me verbally, saying that he/she will search and find a critical error, in order to end my employment contract immediately, if I don't end the employment relationship from my ...
33
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9
answers
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How will anyone know if an employer fires an employee for an illegal reason?
From the Wiki article "At-Will Employment":
At-will employment is a term used in U.S. labor law for contractual relationships in which an employee can be dismissed by an employer for any ...
28
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2
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Why are Hollywood studios permitted to collectively bargain with employees, and what are the limits of this apparent antitrust exemption?
Employers are generally not allowed to coordinate in any way which limits the normal competition for employees. Further, trade associations are not generally permitted to act in ways which would ...
27
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2
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Is my employer allowed to make me work without pay?
As the title says: A coworker and I had recently made a mistake at work. In response to this, our manager decides we have to work for two extra hours on our next shifts unpaid. Is this legal?
I work ...
25
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3
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Can a 401k plan exclude Union members?
John Hancock manages our 401k at work, they have under eligibility,
Excluded employees: Union employees, Nonresident Aliens, and Leased Employees; 21 years of age and 3 consecutive months
My ...
24
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2
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High School forced labor for grades?
I have a friend in a high school computer science course in Texas. This is a course required for graduation and is not a volunteer thing. Apparently, the teacher is having the students develop an ...
18
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1
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Is it legal for a company to enter an agreement not to hire employees from another company?
Is it legal for ACME Corp to enter a reciprocal agreement with another company to not hire from their workforce. This seems like it may have ramifications for price fixing the labor market.
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Can employer legally stop paying time & 1/2 to exempt employee after stating in the offer that they would do so?
Late July I got a job as a computer programmer on a 6 month contract with the agency that recruited me (although I actually work for another company). The job is W-2, paid hourly, but as I'm a ...
15
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2
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My company handed me a letter today telling me I owe them money because they overpaid me. Do I legally have to pay them?
I work an hourly job. I got a letter today telling me that they overpaid me and I owe them money. My job pays minimum wage and I'm not sure how they "overpaid" me, their computers pay me per second ...
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What are some jurisdictions where a "no-strike clause" is illegal?
This paper (PDF file) gives the following example of a typical no-strike clause in a collective bargaining agreement in the United States (the paper is from 1984, so I'm not sure to what extent it ...
12
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Asking for compensation for a broken job offer in CA
I have a family member who had a steady full-time office job in Los Angeles. He wanted a change of pace, so he reached out and got recruited by a well-known transportation company who offered him a ...
9
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How can a company compel a W2 employee to sign a non-compete agreement?
Assume the company is in Delaware and been taken over by a larger corporation: If one already has the job, is it possible to for the larger corporation to compel existing employees to sign non-compete ...
9
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4
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Is it illegal for a store employee to do this with payment?
In a retail store the official policy is that cash is not accepted and payment must be made through payment card (e.g. credit card). Some employees started telling the customers who want to pay in ...
8
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1
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Employer withholds last paycheck in Virginia
I signed my exit interview form that stated I gave back my property that I had from the company during my employ and that I was receiving my last paycheck. The employer only put the check number on my ...
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What jurisdiction do remote workers fall under?
There are many sites like elance.com or fiverr.com where you can contract out work online - often to foreign countries. Besides short-term or fixed price contracts, it's also possible to hire a remote ...
8
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Is my bond (employee contract) legal in India?
I live in India and I have signed a contract of one year with my employer. But now I want to leave my company. However when I sent my resignation email they told me to take legal actions on me.
...
8
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Is it legal for company make you use 8 hours of vacation and work for free for a small time period, each day?
I work for a contractor to the federal government in West Virginia. During a government shutdown, my company is making us use eight hours of vacation, per day, which is legal in the state of WV. ...
8
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1
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Do commission only employees need to be paid vacation pay?
Note: I'm making this company as if it were located in Ontario, Canada. So all the proper rules and regulations of that region would apply to this company.
I'm currently using the software Quickbooks ...
7
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2
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At what salary do I need to withhold taxes?
My wife and I recently hired a full-time nanny to watch our infant daughter. She works 42.5 hours per week (the nanny, not our daughter). We're discussing what we should do when COVID finally wanes ...
7
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2
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How can employer and union agree to tax-free payments?
The German news reports that the employer and employee representatives have reached a new collective labour agreement covering metal and electricity industries. I was surprised by on aspect of the ...
7
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2
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494
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When can a lawyer choose what to work on? Must they think they have a chance at success?
I used to work for a very large company had it's own legal division. If the company wanted to sue someone but the lawyers didn't think they had a good chance to win, must the lawyers still work to ...
7
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2
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889
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How many felonies does Santa Claus commit?
According to legend, Santa Claus engages in certain behavior every Christmas eve.
How many felonies does he commit?
He sees you when you're sleeping ... Peeping Tom
He knows when you're awake ... ...
7
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2
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310
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Is it legal to retaliate against an employee who answered falsely when asked an illegal question?
Oftentimes due to public policy considerations or for a multitude of other reasons employers can not ask particular questions during an interview or just in general in the workplace. Suppose that an ...
6
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1
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Employer suddenly decided to use finger prints for clocking in and out. Can I refuse?
I work in a retail store with about 20 staff members. Usually 3-8 work at a time. The job isn't meant to be permanent and pays close to minimum wage. All of a sudden they are adding a fingerprint ...
6
votes
1
answer
379
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Stuck at workplace for 24 hours, only gets paid for 13 hours
My mother is a USA citizen and a home care nurse. Her job requires her to personally visit designated family (by the company) and provide nursing assistance.
As part of her job, she would get ...
6
votes
3
answers
955
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How are employer pay statutes enforced against offending employers?
An employer recently made some strange demands as a part of a job offer. On advice from The Workplace Stack Exchange I'm going to look for work somewhere else, but I'm concerned the employer is ...
5
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2
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Labor law: which state's law applies when firm has multiple locations?
I work at a firm in Massachusetts (USA) which was acquired in 2012 by a firm in Ohio. I came on board after the acquisition.
Am I covered by Massachusetts labor law or Ohio?
The particular ...
5
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2
answers
381
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Is it legal to restrict employee restroom access?
I went to the toilet at least 4 time a day on my last job.
However my boss would restrict access to the bathrooms after 4PM, saying that we could easily hold it until work ends at 5PM.
Is that legal?...
5
votes
1
answer
168
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Can company's code of conduct influence what employees are doing outside of working hours if it doesn't create a conflict of interest?
In many companies nowadays we can find the following paragraph in their code of conduct:
Employees must, however, avoid acquiring any business interest or participating in any other activity outside ...
4
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1
answer
219
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Is it legal for a restaurant to assume tips on cash payment?
A friend recently posted that,
She is a waitress that receives tips.
Her restaurant has a POS machine.
This POS machine assumes a 15% tip on all cash payments. She can not alter this setting.
...
4
votes
1
answer
141
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Concerns with working as a Teenager
I am a 13 year old. I am wanting to work at my town's local book shop. I live in Washington, USA. I can't find any online documents regarding if I can or cannot work there.
According to official D.O.L....
4
votes
1
answer
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Can an employer force all employees to open bank accounts in the employees' names?
[asking regarding federal law in the U.S.A. only]
Recently I have noticed low wage employers such as fast food and retail requiring employees to open a bank account through the employer. Such ...
4
votes
2
answers
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Is it actually illegal to ask about things such as pregnancy/family status/etc in a job interview?
I often see articles saying questions are illegal to ask when interviewing a candidate. Something like this is a good example:
Are you planning on becoming pregnant in the near future?
Are you ...
4
votes
2
answers
803
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Software developer not getting paid for contract work
I'm in Canada, subcontracted for a company in the US. I have been working with them for 4 months. They refused to pay me for the last month I worked, giving a reason that my work is not up to their ...
4
votes
2
answers
859
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Overtime salary in Germany
I have a work agreement and there is a point:
The gross monthly salary shall also discharge any extra work or overtime.
What does it mean? Does it mean that I get extra pay for overtime or it means ...
4
votes
2
answers
399
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Can a contractor refuse to pay a subcontractor if he doesn't get paid?
Can a contractor refuse to pay a subcontractor until the contractor receives his payment from the company/client? Does it matter if it's in a written contract? Can the buck be passed like that?
"...
4
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1
answer
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Is it illegal for an employer to give a job applicant an unfair advantage in the selection process?
Diana was invited to pre-employment test for a job. But it appeared that that the content of test was the same as last year, and she knew that content because of her friend who passed the same test ...
4
votes
1
answer
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Mandatory participation in workplace holiday potluck
NOTE - this is strictly hypothetical and I am not asking for legal advice. In the case that I ever do need real legal advice I'll find a real lawyer and pay them for it.
Suppose my employer decides ...
4
votes
1
answer
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Is a company obligated to pay out vacation time lost due to a use-it-or-lose-it vacation policy?
Let's assume an employer has a use-it-or-lose-it vacation policy that allows employees to carry over 40 hours of vacation time from one year to the next. An employee ends the year with 60 hours of ...
4
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0
answers
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As an employee who is paid hourly, how much should be paid to pick up a common supply a any store anytime before shifts?
An employee works at a banquet hall or something similar. Often he is told to pick up ice from a store before work and bring it. He is reimbursed for the ice but not compensated for his time. ...
3
votes
1
answer
4k
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Employer failed to report my income or pay taxes. Do I have any rights to file a lawsuit?
An employer based in the state of Georgia (my residence is Ohio) hired me, paying me a monthly salary in addition to funds to purchase health insurance.
When they did not feel I was an asset to them ...
3
votes
1
answer
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Can a remote sales person OWE their company money at the end of their employment due to inadequate sales numbers under the FLSA?
My wife and I are running into a bit of an issue. She currently works in the state of Nebraska as a leasing agent for apartment complexes. The way her company works is that she is paid as commission ...
3
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2
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Which law regulates child labor for a teen that has dual citizenship?
A teen with dual citizenship (Taiwan and U.S.) is seeking to work during his summer vacation. He's 14 right now (8th grade), which allows him to work by U.S. FLSA, but he is prohibited to work by ...
3
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2
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215
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Do labor laws in the US forbid firing striking union members and hiring strikebreakers?
I'm particularly interested in the context of current WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike in the US, but this is a general question. If some business amid a union strike would terminate its agreement with a union, ...
3
votes
3
answers
283
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When must a document be kept confidential?
I applied for a job and received an offer. The offer letter and employee contract state
Please note that the details of your compensation are to remain
strictly confidential.
and
Employee ...
3
votes
2
answers
267
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Ontario Labour laws pertaining to late breaks
Ontario Labour laws state:
An employee must not work for more than five hours in a row without getting a 30-minute eating period (meal break) free from work. However, if the employer and employee ...
3
votes
1
answer
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Does section 2870 of the California Labor Code apply if my employer has headquarters in California but I do not work there?
I do not live in California, but my employer does business, has headquarters, and is incorporated in California. Which state's laws apply to the employment agreement? In particular, does Section 2870 ...
3
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1
answer
232
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Can an employer change its pension for existing employees?
Can an employer change the terms and conditions of benefits, vacation, or pension after an employee accepts an offer in which those are listed?
3
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2
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Volunteer Labor Union in New York State
In the state of New York, is it legal for a group of volunteers to form a labor union?
If not clearly legal, is there anything that prohibits a labor union of volunteers?
Clarifing edit
I am ...