7 Key Moments in U.S. Employment/Labor Law
In honor of Labor Day, I want to honor the workers whose sweat, strength, and sacrifice gave us the workplace protections we enjoy today. I will explore seven defining moments in U.S. employment law history, beginning with the institution of slavery—which to me— had the biggest impact on employment rights.
Slavery in America isn’t just a historical atrocity; it set the stage for deeply inequitable labor practices that dishonored work and depressed wages for all. By understanding this past, we can build a future that honors everyone’s humanity and labor, seeking justice across all workplaces.
#1. Slavery and Its Legacy: The Foundation of Labor Exploitation in the U.S.
The United State’s economy is built on stolen wages, abuse and disenfranchisement. For more than 200 years, enslaved workers were forced to labor in agriculture, industry, and other sectors without pay, rights, or recognition of their basic humanity.
Key Law: The Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Purpose: Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
Significance: While the Thirteenth Amendment was a monumental step, its promise of equality was undermined by systemic racism, discriminatory policies, and post-slavery labor systems like and sharecropping and incarcerated person leasing(that currently continues to perpetuate exploitation).
The Ripple Effects of Slavery on Paid Workers
Slavery didn’t just exploit Black Americans—it also suppressed the dignity, wages, and working conditions of paid laborers by creating a system where labor was undervalued. Here’s how:
Depressed Wages:
Employers could rely on unpaid enslaved labor instead of compensating free workers fairly.
This devaluation of labor affected industries across the U.S., especially immigrant and minority workers who struggled for opportunities in the shadow of slavery.
Normalized Abuse in the Workplace:
Slavery introduced sexual, verbal, and physical abuse into the workplace.
It would take centuries for workers to receive legal protections from sexual harassment, verbal, and physical abuse in the workplace.
Set a Low Bar for Workplace Standards:
If enslaved people could labor in horrific conditions, why treat paid workers much better?
It wasn’t until 1934 when Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforced safe and healthy working conditions for workers.
Slavery’s legacy created ripple effects in employment law, undermining the dignity of workers across all sectors and making exploitation of marginalized groups common practice. The idea that a worker is expendable—whether enslaved, female, immigrant, working with a disability, or otherwise marginalized—came from this dark period and is our greatest challenge to overcome.
#2. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA, 1938)
In the depths of the Great Depression, the United States finally began addressing workers’ well-being through landmark legislation like the FLSA—establishing minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor protections. However, it’s important to note that agricultural/farm workers, most of whom were Black at the time, were intentionally excluded. Lawmakers didn’t want to disrupt exploitative systems, including sharecropping.
Similarly, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 protected the right to organize without retaliation. However farm workers were excluded because they wanted the exploitation to continue. This exclusion carries into the present day and unfortunately the compensation and workplace standards for farm workers remains below the standards of other jobs. Sexual abuse and exploitation continues to be an issue despite continued social justice action.
#3. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963)
This extraordinary moment in history was deeply tied to employment rights. The official name of the march included the word “jobs” because without a fair opportunity to make a living there can be no true freedom or civil rights. The march was organized by labor leader A. Philip Randolph. The March on Washington combined the fight for racial equality with calls for fair wages, decent jobs, and economic justice.
Iconic Moment: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech united these aspirations under one powerful vision of equity and freedom.
#4. Civil Rights Movement & Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964)
Legal recognition of civil rights in employment came to fruition with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the workplace. However, achieving full equity required relentless advocacy throughout the late 20th century. The protections we enjoy from Title VII came directly from social justice action in the form of marches, protests, sit-ins, arrests, bloodshed, and the continued filing of civil rights lawsuits that would shape the case law that gave us the interpretation of Title VII.
#5. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA, 1967)
As the American workforce grew older and more diverse, the ADEA fundamentally reshaped how employers approached age in the workplace. This landmark legislation prohibited age-based discrimination for workers aged 40 and older, ensuring that experience and longevity were seen as assets rather than liabilities. By safeguarding workers from unfair wages, layoffs, and hiring practices based solely on age, the ADEA helped preserve both livelihoods and the dignity of seasoned employees—a vital step toward equitable treatment for all workers, regardless of life stage.
#6. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990)
The ADA was a groundbreaking law that affirmed the rights of workers with disabilities to fully participate in the workforce without facing exclusion or discrimination. By requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations, the ADA removed barriers that had marginalized disabled workers for generations, ensuring they had the same opportunities to succeed as their able-bodied counterparts.
#7. The #MeToo Movement (2017 - Present)
The modern #MeToo Movement shed light on pervasive sexual harassment, rape culture, and gender inequities in the workplace. While there had already been laws addressing pay equality for women, such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, #MeToo exposed how cultural attitudes toward gender exploitation lingered, resulting in significant workplace reforms and calls for accountability. #MeToo was first used in 2006 by activist and survivor Tarana Burke who was running an organization to support teens who were survivors of sexual abuse. In 2017 #MeToo became an international movement as women began to use the hashtag to share experiences during the Harvey Weinstein court cases. Awareness of this issue and support for survivors created a reckoning in some industries where sexual abuse and rape culture were rampant.
Honoring All Workers
When people discuss labor rights and civil rights, they may choose to focus on select groups—but dehumanization doesn’t work like that. Once we say one group isn’t worthy (unskilled workers, people of color, women, immigrants, older workers, people with disabilities), that sentiment spreads like contagion, denying dignity to all workers across industries.
Conclusion
The history of employment law in the U.S. reflects individual and collective fights to honor labor and respect human dignity. From the origins of slavery to strides made under Title VII and the #MeToo Movement, these moments teach us one crucial lesson: respecting all workers is the foundation of true equality and in agreement with the Declaration of of Independence which states in part:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.