Chapter Thirteen time when many of those employers are already paying some of the highest wages in the world. Thus, the pressure on European employers to manage and reduce benefits costs is likely to be even greater than it is on US. employers. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS Indirect compensation grew rapidly during the Depression, which produced the first major legislation involving benefits. The Social Security Act, passed in 1935, provided old-age, disability, survivors and health benefits and established the basis for federal and state unemployment programs. The Wagner Act, or National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA), helped ensure the growth of benefits by strengthening the union movement in the United States. Both the Social Security Act and the Wagner Act continue to play sig nificant roles in the administration of benefits. Since the 1960s, Congress has passed several acts that make this legal environment more complex, ing the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (which were discussed in previous chapters). Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978