The federal government has nearly 200 laws relating to labor, pay and working conditions. These laws are adopted by every state in the United States. States are also free to add to each federal law as it sees fit. Many states choose to do this as a way of coping with the particular economic conditions and cost of living of the area.
Enforcement of Federal Labor Laws
The United States Department of Labor is tasked with enforcing over 180 federal statutes relating to hiring practices, treatment of workers, equal wages, discrimination in the workplace, and workplace safety. Each employer in every state across the country is bound by these regulations. To assist employers in adhering to regulations, the Department of Labor offers compliance assistance in the form of informative posters and labor law guides.
Enforecement of State Labor Laws
Each state in the U.S. maintains its own department of labor for the enforcement of its own laws and federal labor laws. A state's department of labor directly oversees enforcement of state child labor laws with businesses, documents new hires through social security verification, and communicates with the U.S. Department of Labor for issues of compliance.
State Laws Trumping Federal Laws
Each state in the United States has the ability to augment existing federal labor laws with its own set of rules and regulations. These laws may include laws such as higher minimum wage standards, guarantees for lunch breaks and overtime pay. In these cases, the state law trumps federal law because the state law already includes the regulations outlined by the federal government. A state cannot write a law with the intention of circumventing federal law, such as removing the Americans with Disabilities Act from the books. A state's laws always take precedent where no federal statute exists.
Labor Unions
Labor union contracts may not be drawn up with the purpose of circumventing state or federal labor law minimums. For example, a union labor contract cannot lower the federally established minimum wage or allow child labor where a state restricts the age of workers. Union contracts may improve on federal laws in the same way states do, such as guaranteeing workers a higher wage than the federally established minimum.
States' Augmentation of Federal Labor Laws
States tend to pick and choose which federal labor laws they choose to augment. This creates what is known as "employer friendly" and "worker friendly" states. California is an example of a worker-friendly state because its labor laws guarantee higher minimum wages and meal breaks for adults where federal law does not. North Carolina is an employer-friendly state where workers are not guaranteed breaks of any kind.
