• Labor laws protect workers in the United States.argon gas welder image by Jake Hellbach from Fotolia.com
  
  The responsibility to protect the more than 125 million workers in the United States falls on the Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL is charged with composing, modifying and enforcing the more than 180 federal laws that have been enacted to protect workers. Labor laws dictate the number of hours an employee may work, fair wages, equal opportunity, Workers' Compensation, union rights and protection for the disabled. The DOL also regulates the Black Lung Benefits Act. This act provides medical benefits and monthly payments to coal miners diagnosed with pneumoconiosis (black lung disease).
  
  

Workers are Protected from Low Wages and Long Hours

• Employers must pay employees no less than the federal minimum wage. Overtime wages of 1.5 times the employee's regular wage must be paid for hours worked that surpass 40 hours.
  
  An employer is prohibited from firing or laying off an employee to vacate the position for a new, lower-earning employee. In other words, he cannot discharge an employee who has moved up the pay scale in order to save money.
  
  The minimum working age is 16, however, 14- and 15 year-old minors may deliver newspapers, perform (on television, in movies, etc.), make evergreen wreaths or gather material, or work for their parents' business.
  
  If a job, including an agricultural job or a job related to a family business, has been deemed dangerous, no one younger than 18 years of age may be hired to perform it.
  
  An employee cannot be fired if his wages are garnished as a result of a single debt or other judgment, regardless of how many proceedings result from that debt. The agency also regulates how much can be deducted from an employee's check. If that employee faces garnishments from additional debts or legal proceedings, however, he is not exempt from being fired.
  
  An employer or potential employer may not discriminate against people due to disabilities, race or sex.
  
  In addition to sick or personal days and vacation days, an eligible employee must be permitted up to 12 weeks of leave due to the birth of a child, placement of a child from foster care, adoption of a child, care for a family member as a result of a serious health problem or if the employee has a serious health condition. The leave is unpaid and may be taken once during each 12-month period.
  
  

Exceptions to the Rule

• The DOL has deemed that some employees are exempt from both the federal minimum wage and overtime regulations. These include professional, administrative and executive positions, and those employed in the fields of seasonal amusement (e.g., fairs, annual events), small newspapers, sea operations (e.g., commercial fishing), newspaper delivery, babysitting (in homes) and those who work for the infirm or elderly. People employed on small farms and switchboard operators at small telephone companies are also exempt.
  
  A worker who receives tips in addition to his wages must be paid a minimum of $2.13 an hour in addition to the tips he collects.
  
  Employers that pay employees on a piece-by-piece basis must compensate any employee who has not met the equivalent of minimum wage in any given week. He must also be paid overtime for weeks that exceed 40 hours.
  
  The DOL provides a list of positions that are exempt from minimum wage protection or overtime pay at http://www.dol.gov.
  
  

Responsibilities of Employers

• DOL-approved posters stating employee rights must be hung in a conspicuous location, such as a break room or other location easily accessible by employees.
  
  For all nonexempt employees, an employer must keep a complete record of wages, hours, full address, date of birth, gender, job title, hourly rate of pay, pay period, total regular earnings, and overtime earnings.
  
  Payroll records, sales and purchase records, and collective bargaining agreements must be kept and made available for review upon demand for at least three years.
  
  Contracts or other bases for computing an employee's wages must be kept and made available for two years. Wage rate tables, time cards, piecework tickets and schedules are samples of such records. Also included are records of deductions, bonuses, advances and any other factors relating to an employee's paycheck.
  
  Employers are also responsible for paying all taxes, garnishments and any other deductions from the employee's check, as well as the sums due for Workers' Compensation (which is explained in more detail below).
  
  

Other Guaranteed Compensation

• If an employee loses his job as a result of a lay-off, firing, or due to a doctor's orders not to work, he is guaranteed to receive a percentage of his weekly wages for about 26 weeks as long as he seeks new employment.
  
  Workers who are injured or become ill as a direct result of their employment may be eligibile to receive medical treatment, wage replacement, and other benefits under Workers' Compensation. If a worker cannot return to his old position, but could work in a different field, he may also receive subsidized vocational rehabilitation.
  
  

Disabled Workers

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects workers from discrimination with regard to job applications, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, and training. Employers are required to make reasonable accommodations to disabled workers unless "the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business."
  
  Workers whose "earning or productive capacities for the work to be performed are impaired by physical or mental disabilities, including those related to age or injury," are exempt from the federal minimum wage laws.
  
  According to AllBusiness(.com), a worker who's work-related disability has "substantially limited a major life activity" is protected by the ADA and "must be able to perform the essential functions of a job currently held or desired with or without an accommodation."