SHRM-CP Employment Laws: Every U.S. Law and Case the 2026 BASK Lists, and How Deep to Study

Lists of "laws to know for the SHRM-CP" are easy to find and hard to trust: they mix exams, editions and personal favorites. SHRM publishes its own list. It sits on two pages of the 2026 SHRM BASK, in the key concepts of the U.S. Employment Law & Regulations functional area, and it is reproduced below by category, as checked on October 27, 2026. This guide describes what the BASK names. It doesn't summarize what each law requires and isn't legal advice; laws and rules can change after the BASK was written, and the 2026 BASK PDF was created in October 2025.

Where U.S. employment law sits on the SHRM-CP

U.S. Employment Law & Regulations is one of four functional areas in the Workplace domain, next to Managing a Global Workforce, Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. The 2026 handbook weights Workplace at 13% of the exam. By Passy's arithmetic, that is about 14 of the 110 scored items for the whole domain; SHRM doesn't publish counts per functional area, so how many of those come from U.S. law is unknown.

Three SHRM statements set the scale:

• Knowledge items rest on verifiable references. SHRM's certification staff wrote in an April 2024 article that the correct response to a knowledge item is based on a verifiable reference, such as a textbook, a well-known theory or established law.
• Any key concept may produce zero, one or two questions. That is from their March 2024 article, which also warns against over-preparing one area.
• International exams skip this area. The same March article says U.S. Employment Law & Regulations content doesn't appear for international examinees; SHRM's Choosing the Right HR Certification page says those exams may ask about universal employment law concepts instead. The guide to taking the SHRM-CP outside the U.S. covers what to study in its place.

So the list below deserves real study, but in proportion: it is one part of a 13% domain, and breadth across it matters more than depth on any one law.

The 2026 BASK's U.S. employment law list, by category

The BASK introduces each group with "examples include", so treat the lists as the core of the area rather than a closed set. Names and dates follow the BASK, minus a few of its alternative nicknames. Where a BASK note is imprecise, the item adds what the federal record shows.

Employment and authorization to work

• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
• Form I-9 and E-Verify
• Green cards and visa types (the BASK's examples are H-1B and F-1)
• Employment at will
• Background checks
• Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 (FCRA)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy

Compensation

• Davis-Bacon Act of 1931
• Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936
• Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) and amendments, including the 2020 overtime rule
• Equal Pay Act of 1963 (amending the FLSA)
• McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)
• The Affordable Care Act's Break Time for Nursing Mothers (2010)
• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (2007)

Employee relations

• National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA, also called the Wagner Act)
• Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (LMRA, also called the Taft-Hartley Act)
• Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 and amendments
• Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
• NLRB v. Weingarten (1975)
• Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB (1992)

Job safety and health

• Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
• Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
• Guidelines on sexual harassment
• Workers' compensation

Equal employment opportunity

• Civil Rights Act of 1964, including Title VII (the BASK writes "Civil Rights Acts")
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) and amendments
• Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including sections 501 and 503
• Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974
• Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR Part 1607) (1978)
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and amendments
• Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)
• Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp. (1971)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973)

Leave and benefits

• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), which the BASK marks "expanded 2008, 2010": the military family leave amendments in the National Defense Authorization Acts for fiscal years 2008 and 2010, enacted in January 2008 and October 2009, as the 2013 FMLA final rule records
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), including rules for breaks and lactation rooms for nursing mothers
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and amendments, including leave as a reasonable accommodation
• Defense of Marriage Act, which the BASK marks "overruled in 2013" (Congress repealed the act in the Respect for Marriage Act, Public Law 117-228, on December 13, 2022)
• EEOC v. Verizon (2011)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

Miscellaneous

• Drug screening
• Medical marijuana

Details in the SHRM-CP law list that are easy to miss

• Eight court cases. Ledbetter, Weingarten, Lechmere, Griggs, Phillips, McDonnell Douglas, EEOC v. Verizon and NFIB v. Sebelius sit alongside the statutes. Learn what each one is known for, not just its name. EEOC v. Verizon is different in kind: it ended in a 2011 consent decree that, as the EEOC announced, settled the agency's disability suit over Verizon's "no fault" attendance plans, not in a court ruling.
• Some labels are older than the law. The BASK's dates mark where an item started, not always where it stands. For example, the U.S. Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #73 describes the FLSA's break-time right for nursing employees as extended by the PUMP Act, signed into law on December 29, 2022, which the BASK's 2010 label doesn't show.
• Two laws appear twice. The ADA is listed under equal employment opportunity and again under leave and benefits, as leave as a reasonable accommodation. The ACA appears under compensation and under leave and benefits.
• Topics, not only statutes. Employment at will, background checks, guidelines on sexual harassment, workers' compensation, drug screening and medical marijuana are concepts or practice areas rather than single named laws.
• Agency and law are separate glossary entries. The BASK glossary lists OSHA as the agency and the OSH Act as the law, and also lists the EEOC and the NLRB, all marked "(U.S. examinees only)".
• Two legal terms are defined for you. The glossary defines a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) as a factor, such as gender, religion or age, that is reasonably necessary in the normal operations of an organization to carry out a particular job function, and an unfair labor practice (ULP) as a violation of employee rights prohibited under U.S. labor-relations statutes.

Where else the 2026 BASK touches employment law

Law isn't confined to one functional area. Several proficiency indicators for all HR professionals, the SHRM-CP level, mention it directly:

These indicators are where law can surface in a situational judgment item, even though SHRM doesn't say how often that happens.

How deep SHRM-CP questions go on employment law

The BASK's two lists of proficiency indicators for this functional area show the difference between the levels. For all HR professionals (the SHRM-CP), paraphrased:

• Keep a current working knowledge of relevant domestic and global employment laws.
• Make sure HR programs, practices and policies align and comply with laws and regulations.
• Coach employees at all levels to understand and avoid illegal and noncompliant behaviors, such as illegal terminations or discipline and unfair labor practices.
• Broker internal or external legal services for interpretation of employment laws.

The advanced list, for the SHRM-SCP, moves to expert knowledge, setting and monitoring compliance criteria, and advising leadership. Passy's reading of the CP list: know what each law on the list governs and which HR process it touches, recognize when a plan raises a compliance question, and know that interpretation goes to counsel. That depth also suits knowledge items built on "established law".

An original SHRM-CP-style scenario on involving counsel

This scenario is written by Passy for practice. It isn't based on any SHRM exam item, and the keyed answer is Passy's editorial judgment. It tests the role, not the WARN Act's rules, which this guide doesn't summarize.

A regional retailer plans to close one of its distribution centers. The operations director asks the HR generalist to confirm that the company can announce the closure on the day it takes effect, "since layoffs are a business decision." The generalist has heard of the WARN Act but isn't sure whether or how it applies to this plan. What should the HR generalist do?

A. Confirm the plan, since closing a site is a business decision for the operations director B. Announce the closure to all employees today so any notice requirement is covered C. Read a WARN Act summary online and give the director an answer the same day D. Ask employment counsel to review the plan before it's final, and tell the director why

Passy's keyed answer: D. Two CP-level indicators point to it: making sure HR practices comply with laws, and brokering internal or external legal services for interpretation of employment laws. Explaining the reason to the director also matches the Consultation indicator on informing stakeholders about HR-related threats and liabilities.

Why C is the close alternative. It shows initiative and some knowledge, but it has the generalist interpret the law alone on a high-stakes decision. A ignores a known compliance question. B acts without authority and assumes, without checking, that an all-staff announcement meets whatever notice the law requires. To practice the domain this list belongs to, the 234 Workplace questions planned for SHRM-CP prep are organized under the same Workplace heading.

Studying the SHRM-CP law list efficiently

These steps are Passy's editorial approach:

1. Learn the categories first. The seven headings tell you which part of HR practice each item belongs to, which makes the rest of the list easier to place.
2. For each item, answer four questions: what part of employment it governs, which HR process it touches, what HR must do or avoid in that process, and when you'd involve counsel. Write the answers in your own words from a current source, such as the federal agency pages on dol.gov, eeoc.gov or nlrb.gov.
3. Use the BASK's own reading list. Its resource appendix tags several books to this functional area, including The SHRM Essential Guide to Employment Law by Charles Fleischer and The Legal Environment of Business by Roger Meiners, Al Ringleb and Frances Edwards.
4. Treat years as a timeline, not a target. The BASK prints a year for most items; SHRM doesn't say whether years are tested. Prioritize what each law governs.
5. Review by recall. Names, nicknames and pairs (NLRA and LMRA, ADEA and ADA) stick better with short daily drills than with rereading; once prep opens, recall drills with the 580 flashcards planned for SHRM-CP prep suit this list.

In the 60-hour plan in the SHRM-CP study plan guide, the whole Workplace domain gets about 6 hours of area study, so the law list should share time with global workforce, risk and CSR rather than take all of it.

Next step for the SHRM-CP law list

Copy the seven categories into your notes and fill in the four answers for one category a day. Then test yourself with the free SHRM-CP practice questions, which label their U.S.-law items, and save every law question you miss for a second pass; full prep planned for launch keeps missed law questions in the SHRM-CP Fix It list until you get them right. The SHRM-CP exam format guide shows how Workplace fits among the six areas.