Labor Law: Termination of Employment
Labor law in the United States falls into two basic categories: state and federal. Federal labor law is overseen by the Department of Labor and applies to all employees and employers in the country. State labor laws can supplement the federal ones, but cannot replace them or run counter to them. Both state and federal termination of employment laws specifically cover the circumstances under which a worker can be legally released from his job, and his rights during the process.
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Discrimination
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Federal law prohibits terminating an employee on the basis of discrimination. If a person is able to perform the duties of her job, she cannot be fired because of age, disability, race, veteran status, religion, sex or national origin. Anti-discrimination laws also cover pregnant employees. Pregnant women cannot be terminated or refused health insurance because of their condition, which must be treated the same as any other temporary disability.
Continuation of Health Coverage
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The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, allows employees, their spouses and their dependent children to keep their group health insurance benefits for a short amount of time after termination. COBRA laws allow this for both voluntary and involuntary termination, as long as it was not for gross misconduct. However, this does not mean that employees will pay the same premium amounts. COBRA coverage after termination also only applies to health plans maintained by state and local government, employee organizations and private employers with 20 or more workers.
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Last Paycheck
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Federal law does not require that employers supply employees with their last paychecks immediately upon termination. They are also not required to provide severance pay. State laws, however, sometime mandate that employers give the last paycheck at time of termination, or within a certain amount of time afterward. Severance pay is generally a matter between the employee and the employer.
Layoffs
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The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification ((WARN) Act requires that employers must provide written notification in the case of mass plant closings and layoffs. If an employer has more than 100 employees who have worked at least 12 months and on an average of 20 or more hours per week, it must give 60 days advance notice of a closing or layoff affecting 50 or more people at a single site. But the WARN Act does not require this in certain emergency cases, such as natural disasters or unforeseeable business situations.
Veteran Re-employment
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Federal labor laws protect the jobs of workers who leave employment to take positions in the United States military. If an employee terminates his job to join active or reserve services in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, his pre-service employer must re-employ him once he returns. A member of the armed services also cannot be fired for missing work because of military training, drills and performing in funeral honors. These laws cover almost all workers, including probationary and part-time employees.
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