# Federal employment law coverage: a quick check by headcount

Use this when you need a first answer to "does this federal law cover us?" It covers the headcount
thresholds the PHR exam expects you to know. It is a study and planning aid, not legal advice: state law
often reaches smaller employers, and the exact counting rules matter. Check the current text with the
enforcing agency or counsel before you act.

## Count first

- [ ] Number of employees, counted the way the law in question counts them: ____________
- [ ] Number of employees at, or within 75 miles of, the employee's worksite (for FMLA eligibility): ____________

## Coverage by headcount

- [ ] 15 or more employees: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the ADA (including reasonable accommodation)
- [ ] 20 or more employees: the ADEA (age discrimination) and COBRA (continuation of health coverage)
- [ ] 50 or more employees in each working day during 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding
      calendar year: the FMLA covers a private employer (public agencies and schools are covered at any size)

## FMLA eligibility for the employee

- [ ] At least 12 months with the employer (not necessarily consecutive)
- [ ] At least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave
- [ ] Works at a site with 50 or more employees within 75 miles

## Time limits to know

- [ ] A Title VII charge goes to the EEOC within 180 days, or 300 days where a state or local agency
      enforces a similar law, before a lawsuit

## Overtime, the question most often got wrong

- [ ] Exempt or non-exempt is decided by the duties and the pay, not the job title
- [ ] Work a non-exempt employee does off the clock counts if the employer knew or should have known
- [ ] Federal overtime is counted by the workweek, not by the day