Unemployment Benefits - Protest -- Disqualification

The most frequent reasons for protest are those involving a protest against the payment of unemployment benefits chargeable against the employer because the claimant either voluntarily quit his employment or he was discharged for misconduct connected with his work. In regard to these bases of protests, the employer is in a unique position to know the facts because the employer was involved in the circumstances surrounding the discharge at the time it occurred and also because the facts will have occurred prior to the separation from the employer's employment of the claimant. Several other bases of protest (such as available to work and actively seeking work) are all items which may transpire subsequent to the date of separation from the employment and the circumstances of them may not even be within the knowledge of the employer.

Fair Labor Standards Act Class Actions

Background

Rights of Members of Federal Employee Unions

1n 1959, Congress passed the Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) to protect members of private sector unions. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 establish a number of rights for members of unions representing federal employees. The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), a division of the Employment Standards Administration of the United States Department of Labor, is tasked with enforcing and administering these provisions, as well as those of the LMRDA.

Affirmative Action - Disparate Treatment

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, religion, or national origin. Under a disparate treatment theory, which the Supreme Court has described as the most easily understood type of discrimination, an employer simply treats some people less favorably than others because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Proof of discriminatory motive is critical. Thus, preferential or differential treatment of individuals because of their race runs afoul of the statutory prohibition.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel

The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent, investigative federal agency that was created by Congress in 1978. At the time of its creation, the OSC worked directly with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), reporting its findings of federal employment law violations to the MSPB, which would adjudicate them. In 1989, however, Congress separated the OSC from the MSPB and expanded the regulatory powers of the OSC, which is now wholly independent from the MSPB. This articles summarizes the organization and the primary functions of the OSC.