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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 4303. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter -
(1) The term "Attorney General" means the Attorney General of
the United States or any person designated by the Attorney
General to carry out a responsibility of the Attorney General
under this chapter.
(2) The term "benefit", "benefit of employment", or "rights and
benefits" means any advantage, profit, privilege, gain, status,
account, or interest (other than wages or salary for work
performed) that accrues by reason of an employment contract or
agreement or an employer policy, plan, or practice and includes
rights and benefits under a pension plan, a health plan, an
employee stock ownership plan, insurance coverage and awards,
bonuses, severance pay, supplemental unemployment benefits,
vacations, and the opportunity to select work hours or location
of employment.
(3) The term "employee" means any person employed by an
employer. Such term includes any person who is a citizen,
national, or permanent resident alien of the United States
employed in a workplace in a foreign country by an employer that
is an entity incorporated or otherwise organized in the United
States or that is controlled by an entity organized in the United
States, within the meaning of section 4319(c) of this title.
(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the
term "employer" means any person, institution, organization, or
other entity that pays salary or wages for work performed or that
has control over employment opportunities, including -
(i) a person, institution, organization, or other entity to
whom the employer has delegated the performance of
employment-related responsibilities;
(ii) the Federal Government;
(iii) a State;
(iv) any successor in interest to a person, institution,
organization, or other entity referred to in this subparagraph;
and
(v) a person, institution, organization, or other entity that
has denied initial employment in violation of section 4311.
(B) In the case of a National Guard technician employed under
section 709 of title 32, the term "employer" means the adjutant
general of the State in which the technician is employed.
(C) Except as an actual employer of employees, an employee
pension benefit plan described in section 3(2) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(2)) shall
be deemed to be an employer only with respect to the obligation
to provide benefits described in section 4318.
(5) The term "Federal executive agency" includes the United
States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, any
nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States, any
Executive agency (as that term is defined in section 105 of title
5) other than an agency referred to in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii)
of title 5, and any military department (as that term is defined
in section 102 of title 5) with respect to the civilian employees
of that department.
(6) The term "Federal Government" includes any Federal
executive agency, the legislative branch of the United States,
and the judicial branch of the United States.
(7) The term "health plan" means an insurance policy or
contract, medical or hospital service agreement, membership or
subscription contract, or other arrangement under which health
services for individuals are provided or the expenses of such
services are paid.
(8) The term "notice" means (with respect to subchapter II) any
written or verbal notification of an obligation or intention to
perform service in the uniformed services provided to an employer
by the employee who will perform such service or by the uniformed
service in which such service is to be performed.
(9) The term "qualified", with respect to an employment
position, means having the ability to perform the essential tasks
of the position.
(10) The term "reasonable efforts", in the case of actions
required of an employer under this chapter, means actions,
including training provided by an employer, that do not place an
undue hardship on the employer.
(11) Notwithstanding section 101, the term "Secretary" means
the Secretary of Labor or any person designated by such Secretary
to carry out an activity under this chapter.
(12) The term "seniority" means longevity in employment
together with any benefits of employment which accrue with, or
are determined by, longevity in employment.
(13) The term "service in the uniformed services" means the
performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a
uniformed service under competent authority and includes active
duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training,
inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty, a period
for which a person is absent from a position of employment for
the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the
person to perform any such duty, and a period for which a person
is absent from employment for the purpose of performing funeral
honors duty as authorized by section 12503 of title 10 or section
115 of title 32.
(14) The term "State" means each of the several States of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and other territories of
the United States (including the agencies and political
subdivisions thereof).
(15) The term "undue hardship", in the case of actions taken by
an employer, means actions requiring significant difficulty or
expense, when considered in light of -
(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this
chapter;
(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or
facilities involved in the provision of the action; the number
of persons employed at such facility; the effect on expenses
and resources, or the impact otherwise of such action upon the
operation of the facility;
(C) the overall financial resources of the employer; the
overall size of the business of an employer with respect to the
number of its employees; the number, type, and location of its
facilities; and
(D) the type of operation or operations of the employer,
including the composition, structure, and functions of the work
force of such employer; the geographic separateness,
administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility or
facilities in question to the employer.
(16) The term "uniformed services" means the Armed Forces, the
Army National Guard and the Air National Guard when engaged in
active duty for training, inactive duty training, or full-time
National Guard duty, the commissioned corps of the Public Health
Service, and any other category of persons designated by the
President in time of war or national emergency.
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