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Timothy Kolman & Associates
Since 1991
Employment
Law
How did the employment relationship develop?

Feudalism;
In feudal times, peasants were tied to the land owned by the lords of the manor. In exchange for allowing them to till a portion of what they farmed for their own support (this is very similar to the sharecropper relationship), the lord would require them to work on his own land and would take a portion of what the peasants farmed as a fee. If the peasant was lucky, he kept enough to feed his family and his livestock.

The Black Death;
When the Black Death hit Europe in the 14th century, it killed off about a third of the peasant population, causing an acute shortage of labor. It was partly as a result of this that workers became itinerant and started to work for a wage because, following the death or a third of the workforce,  the lords did not have enough peasants to farm their land and had to hire extra help.

The Master-Servant Relationship;
The original relationship between the employer and the employee was called the Master-Servant relationship. The master would direct what he wanted done and the servant, in exchange for money, would do it. When the industrial revolution mechanized industry, the work week much as we know it, was created.

The Industrial Revolution;
Mechanization requires machinery to be started, which itself requires power. It was necessary to start the factory at a certain time in the morning and shut it off at a certain time at night, and the Labor to run it, was required to show up at a certain time and leave at a certain time.

Exploitation in the Factories;
Factory owners exploited their workers as much as they could, paying them as little as they could, employing children and ignoring their safety. It was a consequence of this exploitation that the child labor laws were enacted, federal standards were imposed regarding the work week and minimum wages, and labor unions organized to get better working conditions, higher pay and better benefits. It is partly from the exploitation by companies of their workers that the discrimination laws were enacted but credit also goes to the civil rights movement which, without their perseverance, organization and moral standing, would certainly not have succeeded in forcing government to enact laws protecting racial minorities.

The Civil Rights Movement;
It is as a consequence of the civil rights movement that we have laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender, race, age, ethnic origin, national origin, religion and disability. The laws which protect employees in the United States are amongst the best and most comprehensive in the world. No other country comes close to the protections offered by the United States to its workers.

Where do we find the laws which protect American workers?
When we talk about protection of American workers, there are three places we find laws and regulations which help the Pennsylvania employee. The first is federal law, and in particular title seven of the Civil Rights act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, sex, religion, national origin or color.

Also the Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination in employment based on age and the Americans with Disabilities Act  and the Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination in employment against people with disabilities.

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires all employees to be paid a minimum wage and also require the employer to pay overtime for each and every hour worked over 40 hours a week period there are additional laws and regulations which require an employer to ensure a workplace free from hazardous materials or machinery which could cause serious injury or harm. These are governed by the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a long and complicated statute, protects pension plans and vesting rights.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act prohibits an employer from hiring an illegal alien and requires an employer to verify the work eligibility status of its applicants.

The National Labor Relations Act requires an employer to engage in the collective bargaining process with unions, who have been properly elected and delegated by their employees and also prevents discrimination, on the part of the employer, against workers who are engaged in that process.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act requires an employer to reemploy an employee, once that employee has finished his or her service in the military.

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act prevents an employer for requiring an employee or an applicant to submit to a polygraph examination and the Family Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave because of the birth or adoption of a child or because the employee or his parent or spouse or child, has a serious health condition..

State laws can also give some protection although Pennsylvania is behind many other states in terms of caring for its employees. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act which parallels, to a large extent, federal law but generally does not exceed it, except in allowing for damages in excess of the federal caps, is the statute in Pennsylvania protecting employees.

The Wage Payment and Collection Law also ensures Pennsylvanians will be paid the money they earned, including commissions. Pennsylvania also has a whistleblower law but it only applies to state employees and it has a very short time fuse. An employee must blow the whistle within six months after they are aware of a problem. Waiting too long will result in no remedy being available.

State laws can supplement and extend the protections found in federal law but they cannot reduce those protections. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court permits an employee to bring a case against their employer for retaliating against them for having filed a workers compensation case or for terminating them because of their refusal to commit a crime. These are known as public policy exceptions to the at will rule but are extremely limited and strictly circumscribed by legal precedent

Specific cities can also enact laws giving certain rights to employees. For example, the city of Philadelphia prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation but there are no such protections in federal or state law.


What do they mean when they say "Pennsylvania is an at will state?"

Pennsylvania is referred to as an employee at will State which in essence means that you, as an employee, can be fired for any reason or for no reason.

You need to understand the full implications of this. Your employer can fire you because he feels like it. He can fire you because he got up one morning and was upset the Eagles lost and now he's taking it out on you. He can terminate your employment because his dog barked and kept him up all night or because the tie you are wearing is green with blue stripes on and he hates green and blue stripes. He can fire you because he feels like celebrating his 60th birthday by terminating an employee

More About Employment Law
Timothy Kolman & Associates
Since 1991
The practice of employment law, on behalf of employees,  is an art. It involves knowledge of the law and sound careful judgment. A wrong decision by a lawyer, who is not sufficiently invested in your case because it's not his job that's on the line, could cause you more – not less – problems in the workplace.

For most of us, the employment relationship is one of the most important in our lives. We spend much of our life at work. We care what our co-workers and bosses think of us and we hope to be successful in our jobs.

We depend on our jobs to feed ourselves and our families. We try to be competent, loyal and reliable but despite our investment of considerable time and effort, we sometimes find ourselves disappointed or betrayed by employers who, unbeknownst to us, have regarded us as just another commodity to discard or to exchange.

Sometimes, their actions are so insensitive, it leaves us to wonder if they even realize we are human beings, who have families to support and children to educate. Why do they so easily forget the efforts we have expended, the loyalty we have demonstrated and the time we have given to promote their success?

Why do we find ourselves kicked out with nothing but a few weeks of severance after years of service and sacrifice, and in exchange, we have to sign an agreement not to sue.

Because no employment situation is ever the same, you need an experienced lawyer who understands all the ramifications of your case because an inexperienced or unmotivated lawyer may end up actually helping  the employer, not you.