LABOUR LAW SUMMARY NOTES AND
QUESTIONS FINAL PAPER 2026 COMPLETE
STUDY GUIDE GRADED A+
⩥ Employees at will. Answer: Majority of U.S. workers continue to have
the legal status of 'employees at will.'
⩥ Common Law Exceptions to Employment-at-Will Doctrine. Answer:
The courts have carved out various exceptions based on contract theory,
tort theory, and public policy.
⩥ Implied employment contract. Answer: An implied employment
contract may exist between the employer and the employee.
⩥ Employee's reasonable expectations. Answer: The key consideration
in determining whether an employment manual creates an implied
contractual obligation.
⩥ Employer's oral promises. Answer: An employer's oral promises to
employees regarding discharge policy may also be considered part of an
implied contract.
⩥ Abusive discharge procedures. Answer: May result in a lawsuit for
intentional infliction of emotional distress or defamation.
,⩥ Tort theory of fraud. Answer: Some courts have permitted workers to
sue their employers under the tort theory of fraud, which may be alleged
when an employer makes false promises to a prospective employee.
⩥ Public policy exception. Answer: The most common exception to the
employment-at-will doctrine is based on the employer's reason for firing
the employee violating a fundamental public policy of the jurisdiction.
⩥ Whistleblowing. Answer: An employee's disclosure to government
authorities, upper-level managers, or the media that the employer is
engaged in unsafe or illegal activities.
⩥ Wrongful discharge. Answer: An employer's termination of an
employee's employment in violation of the law or an employment
contract.
⩥ Davis-Bacon Act. Answer: Requires contractors and subcontractors
working on federal government construction projects to pay 'prevailing
wages' to their employees.
⩥ Walsh-Healey Act. Answer: Requires that a minimum wage, as well as
overtime pay at 1.5 times regular pay rates, be paid to employees of
manufacturers or suppliers entering into contracts with agencies of the
federal government.
,⩥ Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Answer: Extended wage-hour
requirements to cover all employers engaged in interstate commerce or
in producing goods for interstate commerce.
⩥ Oppressive child labor. Answer: The FLSA prohibits oppressive child
labor.
⩥ Child labor restrictions for under fourteen. Answer: Children under
fourteen years of age are restricted on how many hours per day and per
week they can work, and they are allowed to do only certain types of
work.
⩥ Allowed work for children under fourteen. Answer: Children under
fourteen may deliver newspapers, work for their parents, or be employed
in entertainment and, with some exceptions, agriculture.
⩥ Child labor for ages fourteen and fifteen. Answer: Children aged
fourteen and fifteen are allowed to work, but not in hazardous
occupations, and they are also restricted on how many hours per day and
per week they can work.
⩥ Working times for ages 16-18. Answer: Persons between the ages of
sixteen and eighteen cannot be employed in hazardous jobs.
, ⩥ Minimum wage. Answer: The lowest wage, either by government
regulation or by union contract, that an employer may pay an hourly
worker.
⩥ State minimum wages. Answer: More than half of the states have set
their minimum wages above the federal minimum wage.
⩥ Tip credit. Answer: The FLSA gives employers a tip credit toward the
minimum wage amount, allowing them to pay only $2.13 an hour in
direct wages if that amount, plus tips, equals at least the federal
minimum wage.
⩥ Employer's obligation for tips. Answer: If an employee's tips and
direct wages do not equal the federal minimum wage, the employer must
make up the difference.
⩥ State laws on tips. Answer: Some states have enacted laws to prevent
employers from including tips in the minimum wage, requiring tipped
workers to receive the regular minimum wage.
⩥ Tip-sharing regulations. Answer: When service employees are paid
the full minimum wage and take no tip credit, employees who are not
tipped can participate in a tip pool.
QUESTIONS FINAL PAPER 2026 COMPLETE
STUDY GUIDE GRADED A+
⩥ Employees at will. Answer: Majority of U.S. workers continue to have
the legal status of 'employees at will.'
⩥ Common Law Exceptions to Employment-at-Will Doctrine. Answer:
The courts have carved out various exceptions based on contract theory,
tort theory, and public policy.
⩥ Implied employment contract. Answer: An implied employment
contract may exist between the employer and the employee.
⩥ Employee's reasonable expectations. Answer: The key consideration
in determining whether an employment manual creates an implied
contractual obligation.
⩥ Employer's oral promises. Answer: An employer's oral promises to
employees regarding discharge policy may also be considered part of an
implied contract.
⩥ Abusive discharge procedures. Answer: May result in a lawsuit for
intentional infliction of emotional distress or defamation.
,⩥ Tort theory of fraud. Answer: Some courts have permitted workers to
sue their employers under the tort theory of fraud, which may be alleged
when an employer makes false promises to a prospective employee.
⩥ Public policy exception. Answer: The most common exception to the
employment-at-will doctrine is based on the employer's reason for firing
the employee violating a fundamental public policy of the jurisdiction.
⩥ Whistleblowing. Answer: An employee's disclosure to government
authorities, upper-level managers, or the media that the employer is
engaged in unsafe or illegal activities.
⩥ Wrongful discharge. Answer: An employer's termination of an
employee's employment in violation of the law or an employment
contract.
⩥ Davis-Bacon Act. Answer: Requires contractors and subcontractors
working on federal government construction projects to pay 'prevailing
wages' to their employees.
⩥ Walsh-Healey Act. Answer: Requires that a minimum wage, as well as
overtime pay at 1.5 times regular pay rates, be paid to employees of
manufacturers or suppliers entering into contracts with agencies of the
federal government.
,⩥ Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Answer: Extended wage-hour
requirements to cover all employers engaged in interstate commerce or
in producing goods for interstate commerce.
⩥ Oppressive child labor. Answer: The FLSA prohibits oppressive child
labor.
⩥ Child labor restrictions for under fourteen. Answer: Children under
fourteen years of age are restricted on how many hours per day and per
week they can work, and they are allowed to do only certain types of
work.
⩥ Allowed work for children under fourteen. Answer: Children under
fourteen may deliver newspapers, work for their parents, or be employed
in entertainment and, with some exceptions, agriculture.
⩥ Child labor for ages fourteen and fifteen. Answer: Children aged
fourteen and fifteen are allowed to work, but not in hazardous
occupations, and they are also restricted on how many hours per day and
per week they can work.
⩥ Working times for ages 16-18. Answer: Persons between the ages of
sixteen and eighteen cannot be employed in hazardous jobs.
, ⩥ Minimum wage. Answer: The lowest wage, either by government
regulation or by union contract, that an employer may pay an hourly
worker.
⩥ State minimum wages. Answer: More than half of the states have set
their minimum wages above the federal minimum wage.
⩥ Tip credit. Answer: The FLSA gives employers a tip credit toward the
minimum wage amount, allowing them to pay only $2.13 an hour in
direct wages if that amount, plus tips, equals at least the federal
minimum wage.
⩥ Employer's obligation for tips. Answer: If an employee's tips and
direct wages do not equal the federal minimum wage, the employer must
make up the difference.
⩥ State laws on tips. Answer: Some states have enacted laws to prevent
employers from including tips in the minimum wage, requiring tipped
workers to receive the regular minimum wage.
⩥ Tip-sharing regulations. Answer: When service employees are paid
the full minimum wage and take no tip credit, employees who are not
tipped can participate in a tip pool.
