Answers to Most Frequently Asked Labor Questions

by Patricia Schaefer

The U.S. Department of Labor fosters and promotes the welfare of wage earners, job seekers and retirees. In carrying out this mission, it administers a variety of Federal laws including those that guarantee workers' rights to safe and healthful working conditions, a minimum wage and overtime pay, freedom from employment discrimination, unemployment insurance, and other support.

There are a number of labor questions the Department of Labor is asked time and time again by a multitude of individuals across the USA. Here are ten of their most frequently asked questions with the answers. Knowing the answers to these questions will be sure to help in your everyday work world.

Question #1: Where can I obtain a loan or a grant to help start or grow my small business?

Answer: The Small Business Administration (SBA) has a number of programs to financially and technically assist developing small businesses. The SBA may be reached by phone at 202-205-6600, or toll-free at l-800-UASKSBA. The Department of Commerce also has programs to assist small businesses (phone 202-482-2000).

While the Department of Labor cannot provide financial assistance to small businesses, the Department does have Compliance Assistance Programs to help small businesses learn of applicable labor laws and regulations. Compliance Assistance information is available by phone toll-free at 1-866-487-2365.

Question #2: What are the fastest growing occupations?

Answer: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes a table of Fastest growing occupations, 2004-14, produced by the Employment Projections program.

These occupations are as follows, with those with the greatest growth in number coming first:

• Retail salespersons
• Registered nurses
• Postsecondary teachers
• Customer service representatives
• Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners
• Waiters and waitresses
• Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food
• Home health aides
• Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants
• General and operations managers

Question #3: What is the minimum wage?

Answer: The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $5.15 per hour. The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Many states also have minimum wage laws. Where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.

Various minimum wage exceptions apply under specific circumstances to workers with disabilities, full-time students, youth under age 20 in their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment, tipped employees and student-learners.

Question #4: When is overtime due?

Answer: For covered nonexempt employees, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half times an employee's regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek. Some exceptions to the 40 hours per week standard apply under special circumstances to police officers and firefighters employed by public agencies and to employees of hospitals and nursing homes.

Some states also have enacted overtime laws. Where an employee is subject to both the state and federal overtime laws, the employee is entitled to overtime according to the higher standard (i.e., the standard that will provide the higher rate of pay).

Question #5: How many hours is full-time employment? How many hours is part-time employment?

Answer: The Fair Labor Standards Act does not define full-time employment or part-time employment. This is a matter generally to be determined by the employer. Whether an employee is considered full-time or part-time does not change the application of the FLSA.

Question #6: When must breaks and meal periods be given?

Answer: The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. Some states may have requirements for breaks or meal periods. If you work in a state which does not require breaks or meal periods, these benefits are a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee (or the employee's representative).

Question #7: How many hours per day or per week can an employee work?

Answer: The Fair Labor Standards Act does not limit the number of hours per day or per week employees aged 16 years and older can be required to work.

Question #8: I am having a baby and want to take some time off from work after the baby's birth. How much time am I entitled to take?

Answer: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year with continued group health insurance coverage during the leave for specified family and medical reasons, including the birth or adoption of a child, or placement of foster children.

The first step is to determine if your employer is covered under the Act. The Act covers private employers who employ 50 or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Public agencies, as well as public elementary and secondary schools, are covered employers regardless of the number of employees.

The next step is to determine your eligibility under the Act. To be eligible, you must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, have worked at least 1250 hours during the past 12 months, and work at a location where your employer employs at least 50 employees at the site or within 75 miles of the site. The 12 months you are required to have worked for your employer do not have to be consecutive. FMLA is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division in the Employment Standards Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Some states have laws that are more generous than the federal law. Check with your regional Women's Bureau office or local Wage and Hour Office for information about your state's law. In addition, some employers offer more generous benefits than the federal and state laws, so check your employee handbook or personnel policies, or talk to a human resources officer in your organization.

Question #9: Who is entitled to benefits under COBRA?

Answer: There are three elements to qualifying for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) benefits. COBRA establishes specific criteria for plans, qualified beneficiaries, and qualifying events:

Plan Coverage

Group health plans for employers with 20 or more employees on more than 50 percent of its typical business days in the previous calendar year are subject to COBRA. Both full and part-time employees are counted to determine whether a plan is subject to COBRA. Each part-time employee counts as a fraction of an employee, with the fraction equal to the number of hours that the part-time employee worked divided by the hours an employee must work to be considered full-time.

Qualified Beneficiaries

A qualified beneficiary generally is an individual covered by a group health plan on the day before a qualifying event who is either an employee, the employee's spouse, or an employee's dependent child. In certain cases, a retired employee, the retired employee's spouse, and the retired employee's dependent children may be qualified beneficiaries. In addition, any child born to or placed for adoption with a covered employee during the period of COBRA coverage is considered a qualified beneficiary. Agents, independent contractors, and directors who participate in the group health plan may also be qualified beneficiaries.

Qualifying Events

"Qualifying events" are certain events that would cause an individual to lose health coverage. The type of qualifying event will determine who the qualified beneficiaries are and the amount of time that a plan must offer the health coverage to them under COBRA. A plan, at its discretion, may provide longer periods of continuation coverage.

Qualifying Events for Employees:

• Voluntary or involuntary termination of employment for reasons other than gross misconduct
• Reduction in the number of hours of employment

Qualifying Events for Spouses:

• Voluntary or involuntary termination of the covered employee's employment for any reason other than gross misconduct
• Reduction in the hours worked by the covered employee
• Covered employees becoming entitled to Medicare
• Divorce or legal separation of the covered employee
• Death of the covered employee

Qualifying Events for Dependent Children (same as for spouses with one addition)

• Loss of dependent child status under the plan rules

Question #10: What notices must be given before an employee is terminated or laid off?

Answer: The Fair Labor Standards Act has no requirements for notice to an employee prior to termination or lay-off. In certain cases, employers must give the workers advanced notice of mass layoffs or plant closure. The Warn Act provides specific information on advance notice, employer responsibility and workers' rights during mass layoffs or plant closure.

Some states may have requirements for employee notification prior to termination or lay-off.

To view other USDOL Frequently Asked Questions, go to the www.dol.gov homepage and click on -- you guessed it -- Frequently Asked Questions. You may also want to access your particular state's labor office website to learn about your state's labor laws and requirements. To do so, go to: http://www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/state_of.htm. To link to your state's labor department, just click on your state.

And lastly, another great site is www.firstgov.gov, the official web portal for the U.S. government. FirstGov.gov is an easy-to-search, free-access website designed to give you a centralized place to find information from U.S. local, state and federal government agency websites.

Copyright 2006, Attard Communications, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions reprinted from and courtesy of the official USDOL website, www.dol.gov.