Hansen and Peck, lawyers in Newcastle, WY, Wyoming

Breastfeeding in the Workplace

It is now generally recognized that breastfeeding should be encouraged and that babies who are breastfed receive numerous health and other benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for example, recommends that women breastfeed their babies exclusively through the age of six months. Consequently, state legislatures have responded by passing laws to promote the public policy interests advanced by breastfeeding. Many states, for example, now have laws specifically stating that breastfeeding in public is not lewd behavior and that women have the right to breastfeed their children nearly any place they have a right to be.More...

Employee Benefit Plans

The Employee Retirement Income Act of 1974 ERISA is a federal statute that dictates how employee benefit plans provided by private employers are administered. ERISA rules do not ordinarily allow pension assets to be assigned or alienated; however, one major exception applies when a pension plan participant becomes separated and divorced. In such a case, pension assets may be subject to a property division under a court order or court approval of a settlement agreement. More...

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

In 1947, Congress enacted the Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act). The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) was created as an independent federal governmental agency to protect the free flow of commerce by minimizing the impact of labor-management disputes on the economy. The FMCS was designed to provide mediation, conciliation, and voluntary arbitration services to labor-related entities. More...

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was passed in order to protect the retirement assets of employees that were accrued through employer-sponsored pension plans. In defined contribution plans, retirement assets are invested and will increase or decrease as the investments increase or decrease. With defined benefit plans, the retirement plan sponsor promises to pay a certain amount to a plan participant upon retirement, whether a stated dollar figure or an amount that is calculated from the participant's salary and time of service to the employer. More...

The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act

Background and ScopeMore...