Employment Labor Laws

Answer 1

The evolution of employment labor laws are the direct result of refinements that continue to occur throughout the evolution of civilization. As social pressures provoke changes in the laws, employers find themselves faced with the ever growing codified legislative, regulatory, and judicial standards with which they must comply upon hiring help or else face sanctions.

From a time when feudal masters held sway over their servants to today's employer/employee relationship, the prescribed method for how a person is treated while in the employ and subject to the specific direction and control of a company or individual must be explicit under threat of penalty.

Expectations

Upon hiring, every employee may expect to receive a written explanation of the essential terms of employment, or the essentialia negotii; in other words, the employee handbook. The purpose of this legal catalog of terms allows the employee to possess concrete knowledge of what is expected as well as what to expect while on the job. Within it, the handbook contains policy guidelines and legal protections while it acts as a reference guide to clarify any questions or concerns over any issues during the term of employment.

Posting Requirements

The handbook becomes the springboard to a set of employment labor laws that must be explicitly posted, making them readily visible to all employees within the workplace. Most often, the employee break room serves as the repository for the display of these laws. These major statutes and regulations affecting businesses and their workers are administered through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and can be referenced here: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/elg/

Provisions

These employment labor laws are the source of information that assist employers in developing wages, establishing safety and health policies, offering benefits, as well as the nondiscrimination regulations within the workplace. Each employer is required by law to post those statutes and regulations that are specific to their classification of business and as they pertain to employees.

The following are just some of the laws that have been passed through the decades that have made an impact on employment labor laws:

• National Labor Relations Act of 1935 guarantees workers the right to engage in collective bargaining and to form unions
• Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 establishing a regular workweek
• U.S. Constitution (Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments) limiting the federal and state governments from discriminating
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 limiting the private sector from discriminating against certain classes
• The Age Discrimination Act of 1967 prohibiting employment discrimination against those 40 years of age or older