Employment laws in the United States: wages, safety, and benefits

Harassment & employment related Laws regulations

Employment laws in the United States

The employment legislation is continually evolving and its primary focus is that of protecting the labor force. In the time of the Industrial Revolution, when people moved to the cities and factories were opened, the working conditions were highly disadvantageous. Women and children worked in the same conditions and men; all were underpaid and exploited. Gradually, they formed unions and pressured companies and policy makers to safeguard their rights. Today then, legislations are created to protect the working population against abuse and these laws are continually evolving; additionally, they differ from one country to the other as they are sensitive to the principles of the policy makers. Within the United States however, the employment laws can be divided into the following categories:

Wages and working times

Safety and health standards

Health benefits, retirement and compensation

Employment of non-U.S. citizens and Federal contracts

Other workplace standards.

a) Wages and working times

Employee salaries and working hours are regulated by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which states that the employer is forced to pay a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. An exemption is made for employees under the age of 20, which can be paid a minimum wage of $4.25 per hour for the first three months of employment. The working week is composed from 40 hours and the employees requested to work more than 40 hours have to be remunerated with overtime pay.

The Fair Labor Standards Act also states that the primary aim of the child population is to attain education and that any working activity which prevents the children from attaining the education, or which endangers them, is prohibited.

b) Safety and health standards

Under the legislations of the United States of America, the employers are obliged to create workplaces which are safe for the employees, as well as healthful. The standards imposed vary from one industry to the other and it is the obligation of each and every economic agent to identify these standards as they apply to the institution, and implement them accordingly.

Aside from the industry specific differences, the U.S. legislations impose strict safety and health standards for all companies regarding the access to medical and employee exposure records, the offering of personal protective equipments and the communication in case of hazards.

d) Employment of non-U.S. citizens

At the level of non-U.S. citizens looking for employment in American organizations, employers have to know that they are allowed to hire any person, as long as the respective individual is a legal citizen / immigrant and as long as the other criteria is met. Nondiscrimination principles are to be implemented for non-U.S. citizen employees as well.

e) Federal contracts

Finally, in terms of the federal contracts, however this is not the case with Pomodoro Inc., it is noted that intense emphasis is placed on equal employment rights and non-discriminative employment. When employers enter contracts with the federal institution, the details of each contract would be negotiated based on the specifics of each collaboration.

f) Other workplace standards

Under this category of other workplace standards, the United States legislation regulates issues such as lie detector tests, reemployment, whistleblowers, nondiscrimination and other similar issues. The following represent some of the more notable regulations:

Lie detector tests are usually prohibited for use by the private employers

Whistleblowers cannot be discriminated against within the workplace as a result of a filed complaint

When plants close or mass layouts are completed, employees receive a 60 days notice (calendar days)

Employees are able to join unions, yet the construction of unions has to respect several regulations as provided in the seven titles of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959

Employers are prohibited from discriminating against or refusing to rehire people who had served in uniformed services, provided that these meet the criteria imposed by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Right Act.

At the same level of other workplace standards, it is mentioned that the United States legislation reveals a zero tolerance policy regarding discrimination and harassment. The same stand is adopted by Pomodoro Inc. From a legal standpoint, harassment can be defined as:

"A course of conduct which annoys, threatens, intimidates, alarms, or puts a person in fear of their safety. Harassment is unwanted, unwelcomed and uninvited behavior that demeans, threatens or offends the victim and results in a hostile environment for the victim" (U.S. Legal, 2011).

The most common form of harassment is represented by sexual harassment, which is defined as the spread of sexual advances and requests, or any other type of unwelcomed sexual behavior. The United States legislation prohibits and punishes any manifestation of sexual harassment in the workplace and allows individuals to sue the companies if they had been subjected to such behaviors. As a result, companies would be fined and the offenders could suffer more serious repercussions.

At a more specific level, employers who allow for sexual harassment to occur within the workplace are subjected to financial losses to compensate the victim of the harassment. They also risk punitive damages and encounter the costs of attorney fees; often, the victim of harassment is reinstated or even promoted.

For the employees engaging in sexual harassment, the penalties include warning or reprimanding, transfer from the current position, or even demotion, as well as the possibility of having the salary reduced. Also, it is even possible for the employee to be suspended or have their employment contract terminated. As part of corrective measures, the offender could be subjected to training and counseling, and would be under constant supervision (Avvo, 2009).

References:

2009, Employment law guide: laws, regulations and technical assistance services, United States Department of Labor, http://www.dol.gov/elaws/elg / last accessed on October 21, 2011

2009, Penalties for sexual harassment, Avvo, http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/penalties-sexual-harassment last accessed on October 21, 2011

2011, Harassment law and legal definition, U.S. Legal, http://definitions.uslegal.com/h/harassment / last accessed on October 21, 2011