Introduction
Law affects many aspects of work, from hiring to termination (and beyond).
Law school classes and law practice have often divided workplace law into three areas:
- Labor law (or labor relations law) involves the legal relations between unions, employers, and individual employees.
- Employment discrimination law involves protections for employees defined by certain attributes, such as race, sex, or national origin.
- Employment law is the catchall term for everything else, including employment contracts, privacy in the workplace, occupational safety, workers' compensation, and unemployment compensation.
Of course, even though we can divide the topics up this way, in real life, the categories overlap. A client might suspect that she is the victim of employment discrimination and also have a claim under contract law. A lawyer might draft an employment handbook for an employer to address several employment law issues and also reduce the risk of discrimination.
Graphic: Vera Bock, Artist. Work pays America! Prosperity. Federal Art Project, between 1936 and 1941, Library of Congress.