U.S. State Law Information

Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

The following, miscellaneous information which may be helpful as an overview of various aspects of business law in the United States of America. Businesses requiring legal advice should contact an attorney.

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Various Resources

• The State Web Locator
• FindLaw: State Resources
• Full-text state statutes and legislation on the Internet

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• Library’s Human Resources Blog

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U.S. Employee Laws

Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

(For information about employee laws in Canada, see the Human Resources Development Canada website.)

This section of the library provides miscellaneous information which may be helpful as an overview of various aspects of business law in the United States of America. Businesses designing personnel policies should obtain advice from an attorney specializing in the area of employee laws. Businesses requiring legal advice regarding potential or current litigation should seek counsel from an attorney.

Note that employees laws apply the same to for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Sections of This Topic Include

• Brief overview and history of various employee laws
• Major topics and issues
• Major employee laws
• Employee contracts (at-will employment, non-compete agreements, etc.)
• Miscellaneous links
• General resources (sources with a broad variety of employee-law information)
• Nonprofits – legal information with a focus on nonprofits (including info about employee laws)
• Legal Guides and Links

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Brief Overview and History of Various Employee Laws

There are a variety of federal laws, executive orders, etc., regarding the selection and treatment of individuals in the workplace. Most notable are federal laws established by the Employee Law — Civil Rights Act of 1964, designed to ensure equal employment opportunity (EEO). Numerous EEO guidelines are intended to provide equal opportunities without regard to race, religion, origin, sex, age or disability. The guidelines also established requirements for affirmative action, specifying that employers had to take proactive measures to ensure equal opportunity to certain protected groups. Various other laws are designed to ensure safety in the workplace, fair pay standards and fair treatment of employees providing military service.

The following brief, historical overview might give the reader some initial perspective on employee laws
Information on Federal Labor Laws and Their History

Major Topics and Issues

(Note that some or all of the following topics may be addressed in the section “Major Employee Laws”
provided below.)

• Affirmative Action
• Age Discrimination
• Disabled Workers
• Discrimination (general information)
• Drugs in the Workplace
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• HIV/AIDS in the Workplace
• Preventing Violence in the Workplace
• Privacy Rights
• Religious Protection
• Safety in the Workplace
• Sexual Harassment
• Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Major Employee Laws

The following is a list of many of the major employment-related laws. (Note that related information about the following laws may also be included in the above section “Major Topics and Issues“.)

• American with Disabilities Act (ADA) (protection of disabled citizens)
• Child Labor Laws (hiring and pay of minors)
• Employee Law — Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the major act of Congress which started many employee laws)
• Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) (continuation of health benefits)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (health insurance coverage)
• Eligibility of Alien Workers in the U.S.
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (protects against misuse of benefit plans)
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (compensation, exempt and nonexempt, overtime, etc.)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (job-protected leave for medical emergencies)
• Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) (Worker’s Compensation) (injured workers)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act (OSHA) (safety in the workplace)
• Unemployment Compensation (benefits to qualified, unemployed workers seeking work)
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

Employee Contracts

• Contracts with Employees (about “at will” employment, and includes sample contract)

Miscellaneous Links

• Rights of employees in the workplace
• When to file a complaint if discriminated against in the workplace
• Fully Informed Jury Association
• Juror’s Handbook
• Is that even legal?

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Employee Law: General Resources

Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

This section of the library provides miscellaneous information which may be helpful as an overview of various aspects of business law in the United States of America. Businesses requiring legal advice should contact an attorney.

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• Library’s Human Resources Blog

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Contracts with Employees in the U.S.

Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

This section of the library provides miscellaneous information which may be helpful as an overview of various aspects of business law in the United States of America. Businesses designing personnel
policies should obtain advice from an attorney specializing in the area of employee laws. Businesses requiring legal advice regarding potential or current litigation should seek counsel from an attorney.

Sections of This Topic Include

• Basics and General Information
• “At-Will” Employment and Contracts
• Non-Compete Agreements
• CEO Contracts
• Miscellaneous Topics

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Library’s Human Resources Blog

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Basics and General Information

• Employees vs. Contractors — What’s the Difference?
• The Basics Of Employment Contracts

“At-Will” Employment and Contracts

• Employment At Will: What Does It Mean?
• At-Will Employment
• What to Watch for With CEO Contracts (applicable to nonprofits)

Non-Compete Agreements

• Sample non-compete agreement
• Non-Competition Agreements Between Businesses
• Safeguarding Success — Finding The Value For Non-compete Agreements
• A Definition of Non-Compete
• Non-compete Agreements: Are They Reinforceable?

CEO Contracts

• Contracts for Nonprofit Executives
• Negotiating the Nonprofit CEO Contract
• Sample Employment Agreement

Misc. Topics and Sample Contracts

• Confidentiality agreements
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
• Written Employment Contracts: Pros and Cons

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Shareholder Value

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Sections of This Topic Include

• Maximizing Shareholder Value
• What’s Wrong with Shareholder Value?

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• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

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Maximizing Shareholder Value

• Shareholder value – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• What is Shareholder Value? – Definition
• What Shareholder Value is Really About
• The Other Duty of Corporate Governance – Forbes
• What Matters in Corporate Governance?
• How to Build Long-Term Shareholder Value | Inc. 5000
• Measuring and Managing Shareholder Value Creation
• Protecting Investors through Independent, High Quality Audits
  /p>

What’s Wrong with Shareholder Value?

• What’s wrong with maximising shareholder value?
• The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value – Forbes
• Down With Shareholder Value – NYTimes.com
• Business: Why “Shareholder Value” Shouldn’t Be Our Only Value | TIME.com
• The Shareholder Value Myth – Politics – Utne Reader
• ‘Maximizing shareholder value’ is ill-conceived concept – Los Angeles Times
• The Shareholder Value Myth
• ‘Theory of maximising shareholder value has done great harm to businesses’ – Analysis
• Is ‘Maximizing Shareholder Value’ No Longer the Goal? | The Exchange – Yahoo! Finance
• Is The Tyranny Of Shareholder Value Finally Ending? – Forbes
• Shareholder Equity vs. Shareholder Value – Wiki | The Motley Fool
• Maximizing Shareholder Value Is Not a Dumb Idea | Inc. 5000
• Shareholder Wealth Maximization and Its Role in Corporate Law

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Stakeholders

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Stakeholders

• What is a Stakeholder (Wikipedia)
• Stakeholder theory – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Stakeholder (corporate) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• The Role of Stakeholders
• Whom Do Public Companies Now Serve? – Forbes
• Stakeholder Governance: A Bad Idea Getting Worse (download)
• How Stakeholders Influence Corporate Decision Making
• Stakeholder Engagement and the Board: Integrating Best Governance Practices
• Responsible Corporate Governance: Towards a Stakeholder Board of Directors

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• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

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Shareholder and Stakeholder Relations

© Copyright Carter
McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Shareholder and Stakeholder Relations

How to keep investors happy and businesses healthy
Board Engagement with Corporate Shareholders
Pension Funds as Owners and Investors
Advancing Board-Shareholder Engagement
Local Investors and Corporate Governance
Giving Shareholders a Voice
Boards Respond to Stakeholder Concerns
Institutional Investors: The Next Frontier in Corporate Governance
The State of Engagement between U.S. Corporations and Shareholders
Shareholders: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?
Effective Board Engagement with Shareholders
Protecting Shareholders and Enhancing Public Confidence through Corporate Governance
The American Corporation and its Shareholders: Dooryard Visits Disallowed?
The Battle for Shareholder Access: The Current State of Play
The Morning Ledger: Boards Get Pulled Into Investor Outreach – The CFO Report – WSJ
Defending Our Stakeholders: Corporate Defence Management Explored by Sean Lyons :: SSRN

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the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan
down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section
“Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click
on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The
blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Library’s
Boards of Directors Blog
Library’s
Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

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Proxies

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Proxies

• Proxy Season Definition | eHow.com
• Proxy Definition | Investopedia
• Proxy Access: Only The Beginning
• Proxy Access: Where Are We Now And Where Should We Go
• The Efficacy of Shareholder Voting
• Preparing for “Proxy Access” Shareholder Proposals
• Does Shareholder Proxy Access Improve Firm Value?
• The Insignificance of Proxy Access
• Shareholder Proxy Access: Time To Get Ready
• Proxy Access and the Balance of Power in Corporate Governance
• The Proper Limits of Shareholder Proxy Access
• Will proxy access enhance director accountability?
• 2012 Proxy Season Review: Overall Trends in Shareholder Proposals

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Shareholder Activism

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Shareholder Activism

• 2012 Shareholder Activism Insight Report
• From the Shareholders’ Spring to the Autumn of Activism
• In the Boardroom with the Shareholder Spring | Lucy P. Marcus
• Shareholder spring an ‘illusion’, say KPMG – Telegraph
• Shareholder Activism, Say on Pay and Executive Compensation
• Increasing the Vulnerability of Investors
• Online Shareholder Participation in Annual Meetings
• Corporate Governance Activism: Here To Stay?
• Public Investors and the Risks of Non-Corporate Governance
• Activism and the Move toward Annual Director Elections
• Facilitating Shareholder Director Nominations
• Avoiding Shareholder Activism
• Whack ‘em with a board! | Lucy P. Marcus
• Re-examining Board Priorities in an Era of Activism – NYTimes.com
• Shareholders, Directors, and Officers – Basics of Corporations – Corporations

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Term Limits

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Term Limits

• Term Limits for Nonprofit Boards – Nonprofit Resource Center
• The Drawbacks of Board Term Limits
• Should Outside Directors Have Term Limits? The Role of Experience in Corporate Governance
• Coming to Terms With Term Limits
• Board Spills | Boards of Directors
• Term Limits for Non-Profit Board Members | Boards of Directors
• Key Metrics Series: Entrenched Board – GMI Ratings

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