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Chapter 19
The Employment Relationship and Immigration
Laws
Introduction
Chapter Nineteen addresses these questions:
• What obligations do wage and hour laws place on employers?
• How and when can an employee get unemployment compensation?
• How does the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 benefit the
employees?
• How do worker’s compensation laws benefit employees and employers?
• What requirements does the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 impose on employers?
• What is the goal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970?
• What are employees’ privacy rights in the workplace?
• What are the global dimensions of employment relationship?
Chapter Nineteen is significant because it explains major pieces of legislation that affect the
Achieving Teaching Excellence
Perry’s Scale
At this point in the semester, it might be worthwhile to introduce an additional model of
learning. Instructors have already used Bloom’s taxonomy, and are encouraging a critical
thinking model. This chapter of the Instructor’s Manual introduces the Perry’s Scale of
The lower part of Perry’s Scale explains that lower levels of intellectual development find
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students who see issues as black or white, right or wrong. Eventually, students start to view
situations as having answers that are relative. They might say, “My answer is as good as yours.”
Many students get stuck at this level of intellectual development. Critical thinking, when done
What can instructors do in class and with this text to encourage their students to move
toward higher levels of intellectual development on Perry’s scale? Instructors do not want
students to despair and start to believe that all judicial opinions are worthless. Some are better
than others from a critical thinking perspective. Instructors should ask students to compare one
case to another. Instructors should ask students, “What does Judge X do in the A case that shows
stronger critical thinking skills than what Judge Y does in the B case?”
References
• Donald R. Woods, “Nurturing Intellectual Development,” 19 JOURNAL OF COLLEGE
Chapter Overview, Topic Outline, and Discussion Questions
Chapter Overview
This chapter explains many of the conditions that the government imposes on employment
relationships. The first five sections focus on the laws that affect employee wages and benefits—
wage and hour laws; unemployment compensation legislation; the Consolidated Omnibus
One of the primary strengths of this chapter is that it gives a good overview of the
employment relationship before students learn about labor law and employment discrimination
law. Organizationally, it makes sense to consider the relationship between employers and
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Topic Outline
I. Wage and Hour Laws
II. Unemployment Compensation
A. Cassandra Jenkins v. American Express Financial Corp.
III. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
IV. Workers’ Compensation Laws
A. Coverage
V. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
A. Major Provisions
1. Jeffrey Bonkowski v. Oberg Industries, Inc.
B. Remedies for Violations of the FMLA
VI. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
A. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
2. Enforcement
4. Penalties
6. State Plans
B. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
C. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
D. Implementation of the OSH Act
VII. Employee Privacy Rights
A. Electronic Monitoring and Communication
B. Drug Testing
C. Other Testing
VIII. Immigration Law
A. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
B. Authorized Noncitizen Workers
IX. Global Dimensions of the Employment Relationship
X. Summary
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Discussion Questions for Chapter Nineteen
1. Analyze: Federal and state laws place limits on employers’ freedom.
This question allows students to present an overview of the material in the chapter. What are
employers not allowed to do? Employers are not allowed to pay workers less than a specific
2. Evaluate: Everyone who loses his or her job is entitled to unemployment compensation.
3. Analyze: It is important to know whether one is an employee or an independent contractor in
case the person is injured at work.
4. Evaluate this statement: Workers’ compensation legislation considers fault.
5. Explain why someone might think this statement is true: The worker’s compensation system
is not always beneficial to workers.
6. After reading the cases that raise issues under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA),
make a generalization about why employers contest employees’ claims that the FMLA
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should provide protection to them.
7. Explain relationships between the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and worker’s
compensation.
8. Analyze: We need the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act less now than we did ten
years ago.
9. How is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) related to the
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC)?
10. Why are workplace privacy concerns more important today than they were ten years ago?
11. Explain why someone might think this statement is true: It would be desirable to have
uniform labor laws among all industrialized nations.
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Answers to Critical Thinking about the Law Questions, Case Summaries,
Answers to Review Questions, Review Problems, and Case Problems
Suggested Answers to Critical Thinking about the Law Questions
1. The employer is upset because he or she does not want to train a new employee or suffer
2. The employer’s statement shows he or she would be unlikely to grant leave if he or she were
3. The additional information that would help the students’ thinking are:
• Will Mike get full or partial pay during the leave?
• Will the pay be subsidized by the government?
• How long can the leave last?
• Will mothers and fathers get the same amount of paid leave?
Case Summary—Cassandra Jenkins v. American Express Financial Corp.
This case deals with unemployment compensation. Jenkins, who worked as an insurance
specialist, was sentenced to prison for assault. She was to serve 30 days, but she had work-
release privileges. She notified her supervisor, who assured her that she could continue her
Case Summary—Jeffrey Bonkowski v. Oberg Industries, Inc.
Jeffrey Bonkowski, an employee of Oberg, had numerous health problems. He was
suspended for sleeping on the job and met with two supervisors to discuss the suspension. He
received permission from his supervisors to leave the meeting and continue the next day due to
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Suggested Answers to Critical Thinking about the Law Questions
1. According to the Family and Medical Leave Act, the term “serious medical condition”
2. The court noted that the congressional reports addressing the purpose of the FMLA indicated
that the term “serious medical condition” was not intended to cover short-terms conditions
for which treatment and recovery are very brief, as Congress expected that such conditions
Case Summary—Brian Pietrylo and Doreen Marino, Plaintiffs, v. Hillstone Restaurant Group
dba Houston’s, Defendant
Pietrylo and Marino, employees in a restaurant, created a group on MySpace that was
password protected. This group was called Spec-Tator, where former and current employees of
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Answers to Review Questions
19-1. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay a minimum wage, and pay time
19-2. Employees enjoy guaranteed recovery for on-the-job injury, do not have to hire a lawyer,
and enjoy a no-fault system. On the other hand, employers benefit because employees
19-3. As per the Family and Medical Leave Act, employers must formulate and publish a
family leave policy, and provide eligible employees with up to twelve weeks of leave
19-4. If an employer violates the Family and Medical Leave Act, employees may recover
damages for unpaid wages or salary, lost benefits, denied compensation, and actual
19-5. NIOSH is a research facility that helps OSHA identify occupational and safety problems,
19-6 Employers should make employees aware of limitations on their privacy. Employees
Answers to Review Problems
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19-8. Worker’s compensation is a no-fault system. It is irrelevant that Mandle ignored company
19-9. The key issue is whether Caroline Williams had a reasonable expectation of privacy. She
19-10. Here, Michael Meuter had an expectation of privacy. He used an extension phone, so he
19-11 The employer can probably use a drug test. Employees have few rights before they are
hired. As long as the testing method is not unduly intrusive, it is probably okay. The lie
Answers to Case Problems
19-12. The court concluded that the Board was required to decide whether an employee is
entitled to temporary total disability (TTD) benefits on the merits and could not deny a
19-13. The court found in favor of the employer, concluding that an employee can affirmatively
decline to use FMLA leave even if she would have qualified for it. The court reasoned
19-14. The court concluded that Wolfe had shown a violation of Section 2002(1) of the
Employee Polygraph Protection Act and that he was therefore entitled to summary
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19-15. Yes, there is an issue of material fact because it is unclear whether Indergit was entitled
to overtime pay. Rite Aid claims the company did not owe Indergit overtime pay because
Indergit’s employment fell within the executive exemption. The court ruled, however,
that Indergit’s claim that the majority of his job responsibilities were the same as those
performed by nonexempt employees need to be further investigated because it created an
issue of material fact.
19-16. In this case, the district ruled in favor of the plaintiff and awarded a summary judgment.
19-17. The court ruled in favor of the defendant, Mission Linen Supply. Even the court of
appeals reaffirmed this judgment.
Thinking Critically about Relevant Legal Issues
1. The issue is an alternative to the present form of workplace drug testing. The saliva swab is
2. The new test is apparently “faster” then the old ones. This is ambiguous because there is no
3. The sources are missing. This would be much stronger if there was a name for the test and if
4. The opposition could take two approaches:
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• The opposition could write about how drug tests are too invasive and infringe on the