Employment Law Report

Employment Law Report

Joey Williams

HRM531

2/6/2017

Patrick Stapleton

Employment Law Report

Organizations regulations are needed in regards to the proper management of their human resources; human beings are the ones that do the work and with that being said, they deserve to be protected by law for the sole purpose of protection against being exploited, discriminated against and abused. Throughout history laws have been created in order to regulate, child labor, avoiding discrimination when it comes to personal beliefs and gender aspects, or fair treatment when it comes to minorities. These laws help increase the value of an organizations human capital. Human Capital is the stock of habits, knowledge, personality, social attributes. Basically a collection of certain traits which represents a particular form of wealth. Department of Labor as of today manages over 180 federal laws that covers over 10 million employees as well as 125 million workers (Department of Labor, 2016).

Employment laws and consequences of non-compliance

The main three employment laws that will be discussed in this paper, and what happens when they are not met. The Fair Standard and Labor Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, and Federal Employee Compensation Act.

Fair Standard and Labor Act

Department of Labor "prescribes the standards for wages and overtime pay, which affects the most public and private employment”. The FSLA protects employees federal minimum wage as well as the payments for the work that is performed outside working hours; according to FDA as it pertains to non-agriculture workers. Working hours are restricted for children under the age of 16 and for kids under the age of 18, employment is prohibited when it comes to jobs that are deemed too risky.  (Department of Labor, 2016)

Wage & Hour Division are responsible for minimum wage as well as working hours, also regulates overtime payments as well as their scope in both the private and the public sector. Since the 24th of July, back in 2009, $ 7.25 per hour was the set minimum wage, also overtime was established depending on a minimum of 40 hours per week and an employee gets time and half for every hour of overtime worked. (Department of Labor, 2016, para. 1)

Failure to comply with the laws that are sanctioned are considered criminal offenses that can result in fines up to $ 100,000 depending on the nature of the violation. According to the Department of Labor, any and all deliberate violations will be prosecuted and fines can reach up to $ 10,000, and a repeat offender can be incarcerated. Employers who are repeat offenders will be punished with a fine of $ 1100 per violation. If there are child labor violations, employers are fined up to $ 11,000 for every worker and violation. (Department of Labor, 2016, para. 6)

Occupational Health and Safety Act

The Law on Occupational Health and Safety was established in 1971 to ensure health and safety in all working conditions for men and women. This was done with development standards and the enforcement of the rules under the OSHA law, by creating rules for each state (Department of Labor, 2016).

The penalties for any and violations pertaining to the OSHA law range from $ 5,000 to $ 70,000 depending on the violation and its severity. In 2015, OSHA increased the penalties due to adjustments the inflation made in 1990.

Federal Employees' Compensation Act

This particular law establishes a compensation program which covers a worker in a disability case or death in the work place. This law provides a benefits package that covers medical cost and rehabilitation. (Department of Labor, 2016, Division of Federal Employees' Compensation) Penalties are set, based on the seriousness of the offense; however, it can be prosecuted criminally if a company has several reports of non-compliance on their record.

Laws and Complaint Application in Companies

Since its an organizational decision when it comes to hiring an employee, they must consider that from the time they hire an employee that they must comply with employment laws. Compliance with each law has to be predetermined within the general rules.  It is vital that organizations necessary resources in place to deal with failure that is caused by the organization or employee. Organizations have to have a human resources department, even small; its mandatory to fulfill that role. Human resource has to be established so in can help an organization avoid any and all violations.

City of Martinsville Public Works

The City of Martinsville took the necessary steps in order to comply with all the rules and regulations. First they take the time for any and all employees to sit down and make sure they understand all the paperwork that they will have them sign at time of being hired.

Employee from Human Resources sits down with each employee to go over their hours and pay rate. Go over overtime pay, sick days, and vacation. Go into detail the rules and regulations when it comes to attendance and the consequences of missing work. When hired you are told of your rights and what steps you need to take if you have any grievances with treatment by a fellow employee or employer. You are advised of what you must do when you are injured in the line of duty. They go over workman comp and insurance that they provide and sees what works best for you.