Importance of Employment Law

Abstract

Employment law is essential to maintaining fairness in the workplace as well as protecting the rights of employers and employees. It ensures a fair and safe working environment and creates a framework for standards and expectations in order to maintain consistency for individual responsibilities. By giving structure to the workplace, employment law helps to define what everyone is responsible for, providing direction and helping to resolve conflicts that arise. The laws in place allow businesses to focus their efforts on managing productivity and maintaining profits instead of contributing effort and resources to addressing employment law concerns and high-level employee conflict issues. It helps with compliance and discrimination and creates a transparent standard that everyone can review for clarity. Employment law is a very broad concept that ranges from employee rights related to pay and the employees’ rights related to religion and discrimination. When discussing employment law as a whole, it is important to note that it is made up of a vast array of multiple laws that contribute to managing organizational structure. Each of the laws is essential and important to maintaining a fair and safe working environment for all involved.

Obligations of Employers

Without employment laws and labor laws, many businesses would be unaware of how to manage and maintain responsibility for employees fairly. In addition, it is easy for businesses and individuals to make decisions which inherently benefit themselves, making employment law standards necessary to maintain fairness and impartiality. Some of the most notable aspects of employment law with regard to employer responsibilities include the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. These laws address the issue of employee equality and manage ethical practices in job recruitment and hiring (Bartlett, 2009). Mitigating and eliminating discrimination is an essential component of employment law, and stops employers from using an employee or applicant’s sex, race, sexuality, disability, or nationality to victimize them in the workplace or elsewhere.

Aside from the standards for treatment and opportunity employment law addresses, it also helps to structure organizations and provide stipulations and guidance. The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates minimum wage and stipulates the requirements for overtime labor for those who work on hourly and salary pay schedules. Non-exempt and exempt workers are included to provide a consistent resource for wage standards. In addition, record-keeping practices are also mandated by this act, helping to promote transparency and accountability related to employee wages.

When employment law comes to mind, some may not consider the aspect of unionized workers and the standards set for this particular group of employees. However, laws like the National Labor Relations Act helps to protect unionized and non-unionized workers by protecting their right to act collectively to voice concerns related to benefits, working conditions, concerns about safety, as well as wages. By requiring employers and labor unions to work together in negotiations and collective bargaining agreements, this law lays the foundation for managing workplace conflict and conditions. The implications for this law include job security and peace of mind for those working in this type of environment.

Employee Responsibilities

While many feel that employment laws are to check and manage the powers of employers, they also create standards for employee responsibilities. Employment law helps to balance out the relationship also support an employer’s right to expect that employees attend work on time, complete assigned tasks and responsibilities and perform the duties they were hired for - whether or not they live in an at-will employment state. As a result, it provides a standard for employees to adhere to. Even so, it does not give the employer the right to discriminate; it only allows them to address employees based on their efforts and work outcomes.

Economic Stability

On a broader scale, employment is important because it preserves the right of the employer to make profits as well as the right of the employee to compensation. In an economic sense, employment law helps to maintain this balance and reciprocation, contributing to monetary exchange practices. In this way, employment law helps to create guidelines and principles that help keep the foundation of the economy stable and strong.

Conclusion

In conclusion, employment law is important because it addresses and protects employees and employers. These laws are necessary to instill standards and guidance for business relationships so that neither party can take advantage of the other. By protecting the employers right to profit and the employee’s right to be compensated, employee law helps maintain a balance. Employment law can range from laws related to employee pay, work hours, safety, or discrimination. Each of these laws is necessary to improve the employer-employee relationship and ensure the economic transaction is fair and equitable. While these laws apply to employees and employers, they have implications for the economy because they help to monitor one of the largest monetary exchange components in the economic cycle. As a result of its significant impact on employers, employees, and the economy, employment law plays an important and essential role in society.

Reference

Bartlett, K. (2009). Making good on intentions: The critical role of motivation in reducing implicit workplace discrimination. Virginia Law Review, 95(8)