Worker’s Protections
200: Q: This is an organized association of workers, often in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests.
A: Labor Union (Workers Union).
200: Q: This is a company sponsored, tax-exempt retirement plan, in which workers contribute a percentage of their pay pre-tax to a private investment account in which they are meant to access after age 59.
A: a 401K plan.
200: Q: What is the federal minimum wage?
A: $7.25 / hour. This is $15,080 annually.
200: Q: How much PTO, paid sick leave, paid vacation, personal days, or paid holidays are you guaranteed under U.S. law as a worker?
A: Zero. According to the FLSA passed in 1938, it does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave, or federal or other holidays. These benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee.
200: Q: Which auto manufacturer was the first major US company to promote the 8 hour work day in 1914?
A: Ford, Henry Ford.
400: Q: Passed in 1963, the Equal Pay Act required equal pay for who?
A: Men and Women performing the same job in the workplace.
400: Q: In order to qualify for this social program and retirement benefit, you must have worked 40 contributing quarters or “credits” (a minimum of 10 years of employment), before the age of 62. For a credit to qualify, you must have earned $1300 during that time.
A: Social Security.
400: Q: There are two types of employees: exempt & non-exempt. What is the difference?
A: Exempt employees are not eligible for overtime – they may work 30 or 50 hours per week, and work until their tasks are complete. Non-exempt employees must be paid at least time & a half of their pay per hour after 40 hours a week. To be an exempt employee, you must have a minimum salary of $23,600 per year.
400: Q: In the majority of the countries in the world, healthcare is provided by that country’s government free of charge to its citizens. This is called universal healthcare coverage. Does the United States offer universal healthcare to its citizens?
A: No. In the United States, healthcare is privatized and provided through an employer sponsored plan or individuals must purchase healthcare from a private insurer. Certain individuals may qualify for low-income care through Medicaid, the federal government’s healthcare social program. The U.S. is the largest country without a universal healthcare system - however, it functions with organizations providing healthcare insurance packages which covers the employees and their dependents.
400: Q: Made a federal holiday in 1894, this holiday celebrates the American labor movement and the collective rights of the worker.
A: Labor Day.
600: Q: The labor laws enforced by the US Government today are built upon the Fair Labor Standards Act. What year was this act signed into law?
A: 1938.
600: Q: The US Government sets a minimum retirement age (the time at which you can access part of your social security benefit - age 62), a full retirement age (the time at which you can access all of your social security benefit), and a maximum retirement age at which you must begin to draw benefits (which is 70). In 2025, what is the full retirement age for someone born after 1960?
A: 67
600: Q: Is there a limit of how many hours an individual over the age of 16 may work in any given week under U.S. law?
A: No. If non-exempt, you can in theory work 168 hours, though 128 of those hours will be at a rate no less than time and a half.
600: Q: In the world, there are 188 countries with some sort of federal law granting paid maternity leave, and 8 countries that do not require paid maternity leave. Name one of those 8 countries.
A: The U.S., Suriname, Liberia, Palau, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, & Western Samoa. In the U.S., parents are allowed 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the FMLA, which was only put into place in 1993.
400: Q: In 1900, what percentage of workers were under 16?
A: 18%. And by 1900, 25% of all southern mill workers were between the ages of 10 and 16. Other facts: Of the 167 million people in the nation's labor force in 2023, 3.81% were teens (under 18). The percentage of teens in the labor force has changed over time, recently reaching its lowest rate since the 1940s.
800: Q: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, (and as of 2020 sexual orientation and gender identity). The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate applicants' and employees' sincerely held religious practices, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business. When was the Civil Rights Act passed into law?
A: 1964.
800: Q; What is the difference between a traditional individual retirement account (like a 401K) and a Roth individual retirement account?
A: Traditional IRAs provide immediate tax breaks because they're deductible and funded with pre-tax earnings. Roth IRAs are funded with after-tax money, so your contributions grow tax-free. When you withdraw money from a traditional IRA, you count it as income and therefore pay income tax.
800: Q: All employers must complete this form for federal eligibility verification. This is the form in which employers log your identification - one from list A or one each from lists B & C. What is this form called?
A: the I-9 form.
800: Q: At 410 days (that’s one year and six weeks), which county offers the world's longest maternity leave?
A: Bulgaria. Bulgaria offers the longest maternity leave period globally. Mothers are entitled to 410 days of paid maternity leave, with the first 45 days being mandatory. The leave is paid at 90% of the employee's salary, providing substantial support for new mothers.
800: Q: This is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work – typically in response to worker’s grievances.
A: A strike.
1000: Q: Unemployment insurance is a benefit managed in a program administered on the state level provided to workers when…?
A: A worker is determined to be unemployed through no fault of their own. (& are able to meet additional criteria specific to that state’s program. Typically workers that are fired for misconduct or voluntarily quit are not eligible for unemployment, though this can vary from state to state. Pay is based on a percentage of that worker’s wages over the previous 52 week period.)
1000: Q: The Social Security Retirement Benefits Program has had a negative cash flow since 2010. This means that it spends more in its account than is put in. There is enough money to continue doing so until 2035. If you were born in 2003, what year will you retire if you are able to retire at 67?
A: 2070.
1000: Q: If you are under 14, according to the US Dept of Labor, you are only allowed to legally work in a handful of situations. Name one or more of these situations.
A: deliver newspapers to customers; babysit on a casual basis; work as an actor or performer in movies, TV, radio, or theater; work as a homeworker gathering evergreens and making evergreen wreaths; and work for a business owned entirely by your parents as long as it is not in mining, manufacturing, or any of the 17 hazardous occupations (language pulled directly from the DOL website.)
1000: Q: The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a United States labor law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. The FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for what three instances?
A: to care for a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or recover from a serious illness.
1000: Q: What was the average annual income in the U.S. 1925? (Guess within the $500 each way.)
A:$5,425 (adjusted for inflation, that’s $98,968 in 2025’s money.) In comparison, the median household income in 2023 in the U.S. was $80,610, according to the latest available U.S. Census data.
In 1925, a brand new Ford Model T, the most affordable car of its time, cost around $260, which is equivalent to roughly $4,662 today.
In 1925, a new house cost between $6,000 to $11,600, and you could even order a complete house kit from the Sears catalog, delivered by rail, for around $1,794.