A manager asks whether an employee can be dismissed for missing work. Naming the Family and Medical Leave Act is only the beginning. HR still needs to identify the employer, the employee's eligibility, the reason for the absence, possible accommodation duties, applicable state law and what has already been communicated.
This selective federal reference teaches that decision process. It is educational material for PHR preparation, not legal advice or a complete compliance checklist. Every scenario is fictional. Real employment decisions require current, jurisdiction-specific review.
Employment law runs across the PHR exam content outline, rather than forming a separate exam domain. The official outline also says candidates are responsible for laws in effect when they take their exam. HRCI's current PHR outline is the starting point, not a historical list copied from an old textbook.
Use five questions before choosing an action
- Who and where? Identify the legal employer, work location, public/private status, employee status and any bargaining representative.
- Does this rule cover the employer and person? Employer coverage and individual eligibility are different tests. Do not reuse one statute's headcount threshold for another.
- What triggered the issue? A complaint, medical limitation, payroll error or group request can activate different duties.
- What must happen now? Address immediate safety, preserve relevant records, meet notices and deadlines, and avoid retaliation. A final employment decision may need to wait for missing facts.
- What else applies? Consider overlapping statutes, state/local requirements, a collective bargaining agreement and the employer's commitments.
This sequence prevents a common error: selecting a familiar law, then forcing the facts to fit it.
Federal reference: coverage, trigger and next step
Title VII: discrimination and harassment
For private employers, Title VII generally uses a threshold of 15 employees for at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. It addresses employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Different rules can apply to other types of employers. EEOC's private-employer coverage guidance explains the counting framework.
Operational trigger: An employee says a supervisor repeatedly assigns less desirable shifts because of the employee's religion.
Next step: Take the report seriously, preserve scheduling and complaint records, assess immediate protection needs and assign a fair fact-finding process. A manager's statement that the employee “never filed the official form” is not a sound reason to ignore known concerns.
Boundary: Poor management and interpersonal conflict are not automatically unlawful harassment. The legal assessment depends on the conduct, its basis and context. An employer can prohibit conduct through policy before it reaches the legal threshold. EEOC's harassment overview distinguishes the legal standard from ordinary slights.
ADA Title I: disability and reasonable accommodation
Private employers generally reach ADA Title I coverage at 15 employees under the applicable counting rules. A qualified applicant or employee may need an effective accommodation to perform essential job functions, unless it would impose undue hardship.
Operational trigger: A new employee connects a requested schedule change to a medical limitation. Being “on probation” is not a reason to ignore it.
Next step: Clarify the work barrier and potential adjustments. Seek only appropriate, relevant documentation when needed. Do not automatically demand an entire medical history. A request need not name the ADA or use a special form. EEOC's accommodation guidance explains this process and notes that the 2008 ADA amendments broadened disability coverage.
Boundary: The preferred adjustment is not automatically the required one; alternatives must be effective. Avoid equating any expense or inconvenience with undue hardship. Separate accommodation analysis from conclusions about whether past conduct warrants discipline.
ADEA: age discrimination
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects people age 40 and older. For private employers, the usual threshold is 20 employees under the applicable counting rules. EEOC's age discrimination overview describes its reach.
Operational trigger: A selection manager asks HR to remove applicants who appear “too close to retirement.”
Next step: Stop using age assumptions as a screening method. Reassess candidates against documented, job-related criteria and preserve the decision trail.
Boundary: Do not generalize this private-employer threshold to every public employer, or assume people under 40 have no protection under any state or local law. A job requirement that happens to correlate with age still deserves scrutiny for relevance and consistent application.
Equal Pay Act: compare the work, not just job titles
The Equal Pay Act addresses sex-based pay differences for substantially equal work in the same establishment, considering skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. Its coverage does not depend on Title VII's 15-employee threshold. Statutory exceptions include qualifying seniority, merit and production systems, and a differential based on a factor other than sex. The statute published by EEOC provides the governing framework.
Operational trigger: Two employees have different titles but perform substantially the same work, and a pay concern is raised.
Next step: Compare actual responsibilities, compensation components and the documented basis for differences. An unexplained gap calls for investigation, not an instant conclusion either way.
Boundary: A title difference does not settle the issue. Nor is a numerical pay gap alone proof of a violation. Other discrimination laws may use different comparison standards. An unlawful gap cannot be fixed by lowering the higher-paid employee's wage. EEOC's compensation overview explains that pay extends beyond base salary.
FLSA: coverage, hours and overtime
The Fair Labor Standards Act has both enterprise and individual coverage. Many enterprises are covered at $500,000 in annual business volume, while specified institutions and government agencies have separate coverage rules. Even where enterprise coverage does not apply, an individual employee's interstate-commerce work can create coverage. A small business is not automatically outside the law. DOL's FLSA coverage explanation outlines both paths.
For covered, nonexempt employees, federal overtime generally applies after 40 hours worked in a workweek. Paid leave is not the same thing as hours worked, and averaging a long week with a short week does not eliminate overtime owed for the long week. Specific exemptions and industry rules require separate analysis. DOL's overtime handbook is the primary reference.
Operational trigger: An employee is called a “manager,” receives a salary and spends most working time performing routine tasks.
Next step: Review actual duties and the relevant exemption's pay requirements. A title, salary or employee preference does not establish exempt status. State rules may impose a different or more protective test.
Current-law check, October 18, 2026: The 2024 federal white-collar salary increases were vacated. A final technical amendment effective May 15, 2026 restored the prior regulatory text after appeals were dismissed. The standard federal executive, administrative and professional salary level is $684 per week, with the relevant duties and salary-basis requirements still necessary. Some occupations and territories have exceptions. Do not treat the vacated 2024 increases or their scheduled updates as operative requirements. This status is documented in the May 15, 2026 Federal Register rule.
FMLA: separate employer coverage from employee eligibility
For private employers, FMLA coverage generally requires 50 employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Public agencies and elementary/secondary schools have different employer-coverage rules. An employee ordinarily must have at least 12 months of employment, 1,250 hours of service in the preceding 12 months, and a worksite with 50 employees within 75 miles. Airline flight crew and other specific rules require additional checking. DOL's FMLA overview separates these tests.
Operational trigger: An employee asks for time away for a potentially qualifying medical reason.
Next step: Determine eligibility and issue required information rather than asking the employee to identify the statute. Eligible employees can receive up to 12 workweeks for qualifying reasons, with a distinct military-caregiver entitlement of up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period. FMLA provides unpaid, job-protected leave; wage replacement may come from another source.
Boundary: “Not FMLA eligible” does not mean “no possible leave or accommodation.” Other federal duties, state/local leave laws and employer policies may apply. An employee's home is also not automatically the relevant worksite for remote-work analysis. DOL's FMLA FAQs address eligibility details.
NLRA: group workplace concerns, including some nonunion workplaces
Covered employees can have rights to act together about wages and working conditions even without a union. A single employee can sometimes act on behalf of coworkers or seek group action. NLRB's concerted-activity guidance explains this protection.
Operational trigger: Several employees jointly complain about unpredictable schedules. A supervisor proposes discipline for discussing the issue with colleagues.
Next step: Assess protected concerted activity before acting. Separate any specific misconduct allegation from the protected subject of the complaint.
Boundary: The NLRA does not cover every worker. Exclusions include public-sector employees, statutory supervisors, independent contractors and certain agricultural, domestic, rail and air workers. Classification and jurisdiction need real analysis. Public-sector labor protections may arise under other laws. NLRB's coverage page identifies major exclusions.
OSH Act: safety comes before routine case administration
Most private-sector workplaces fall under federal OSHA or an approved state plan. State and local public-sector coverage differs. OSHA's coverage explanation and state-plan directory identify the relevant system.
Operational trigger: An employee reports an unguarded machine and says a supervisor threatened a poor evaluation for raising it.
Next step: Route the possible hazard for prompt safety assessment, preserve the report and assess retaliation separately. Do not postpone urgent protection while debating whose department owns the complaint. OSHA's worker-rights information explains reporting protections.
Boundary: An internal investigation does not replace statutory reporting, recordkeeping or external filing deadlines. Confirm the requirements for the actual incident and jurisdiction.
COBRA: a coverage-loss event requires benefits review
For private-sector group health plans, federal COBRA generally applies when the employer had at least 20 employees on more than half of its typical business days in the prior calendar year; part-time employees count fractionally for this test. State/local government plans and excluded plan categories require separate treatment. DOL's employer COBRA FAQs were dated September 2025 when checked.
Operational trigger: A reduction in hours causes an employee to lose group health coverage.
Next step: Determine whether a qualifying event occurred, who is a qualified beneficiary and which notice obligations apply. Coordinate employment and benefits records.
Boundary: Do not assume that only termination triggers review, that every separation produces the same entitlement, or that smaller employers have no state continuation obligations.
Three fictional fact patterns
1. “We only have 12 employees, so payroll law does not apply”
A small interstate service business has 12 employees. The owner believes all federal employment laws begin at 15 employees.
Best next step: Analyze the relevant FLSA coverage route and worker exemption status. Do not import Title VII's threshold into wage-and-hour law. Also check state requirements.
Why the tempting answer fails: “Wait until headcount reaches 15” treats federal law as a single coverage regime. The number is irrelevant to several other statutes' tests.
2. Leave after eight months of service
A 200-person private employer receives a medical-leave request from an employee hired eight months ago. Assume there is no prior employment to count and no special service-credit issue.
Best next step: Explain the FMLA eligibility issue, then assess other applicable leave and accommodation obligations. Ask enough to route the request appropriately, without collecting unnecessary medical detail.
Why immediate denial fails: One unmet FMLA condition does not resolve the ADA, state/local leave or policy analysis. Conversely, it would be inaccurate to promise FMLA protection before eligibility is established.
3. A complaint followed by a rating change
An employee reports suspected discrimination on Monday. On Wednesday, the supervisor requests that HR lower a previously drafted performance rating.
Best next step: Preserve both rating versions, ask for the contemporaneous evidence behind the proposed change and arrange independent review before implementing it. Continue addressing genuine performance issues through a fair process.
Why neither automatic conclusion works: Timing is a risk signal, not proof. A complaint does not make an employee immune from legitimate management, but it also does not justify suddenly creating unsupported negative documentation. EEOC's retaliation guidance explains the protection of EEO activity.
State/local boundaries and updates
Federal law is only one layer. Build a jurisdiction check around where employees work, not just headquarters. Research state/local wage and overtime rules, paid leave, protected categories, pay transparency, background-check restrictions, safety administration and final-pay requirements when relevant. A contractual promise may also exceed the statutory minimum.
Do not memorize “always apply whichever law is more generous” as a universal conflict rule. Different laws can govern different issues, and preemption or coverage questions may need legal analysis. The practical discipline is to identify every applicable obligation and reconcile them before acting.
When updating study notes, record:
- The primary source and publication or effective date.
- Whether the item is an enacted statute, effective final rule, proposal, guidance or court decision.
- Any order limiting enforcement or changing geographic or party-specific reach.
- What the change actually affects, and what remains unchanged.
A proposal is not an effective rule. Agency guidance is not identical to a statute. A page's old headline may not reflect a later legal notice on the same site.
Check your reasoning
Question 1: A salaried worker earns above the standard federal salary threshold. Is that enough to establish the administrative exemption?
Answer: No. Review the specific duties and pay-basis requirements, plus applicable state law. A threshold is one part of a test, not a universal exemption.
Question 2: A nonunion employee shares a coworkers' petition about schedules. Can HR assume labor-law protection is irrelevant?
Answer: No. Determine NLRA coverage and whether the conduct is protected concerted activity. Union membership is not the sole trigger.
Question 3: A company policy bans conduct that would not necessarily meet the federal harassment threshold. Can HR still address it?
Answer: Yes, through a lawful, fairly applied policy. Distinguish a policy finding from a legal conclusion and avoid inventing certainty before the facts are established.
Continue studying
- Practice the decision sequence in employee and labor relations scenarios.
- Apply wage-and-hour concepts to the total rewards worked examples.
- Test distinctions with PHR practice questions.
- Schedule retrieval and source checks in the PHR study plan.
Primary sources and review date
Checked October 18, 2026. This is a selective teaching reference, not a claim that every legal development or jurisdiction has been reviewed.
- HRCI PHR exam content outline, current document marked ©2026; outline effective 2024.
- EEOC private-employer coverage, harassment, age discrimination and retaliation, live agency references.
- EEOC reasonable-accommodation guidance, issued October 17, 2002, read with its ADAAA notice; Equal Pay Act text.
- DOL FLSA coverage, overtime handbook, FMLA overview and FMLA FAQs.
- Federal Register Part 541 technical amendment, published and effective May 15, 2026.
- NLRB concerted activity and coverage exclusions.
- OSHA coverage, state plans and worker rights.
- DOL COBRA employer FAQs, September 2025.