What is employment law?
Employment law encompasses the rights and obligations of the employer-employee relationship. Common employee grievances include:
- Discrimination,
- Sexual Harassment,
- Wrongful Termination,
- Not paying minimum wages or overtime and so on.
What types of workers are eligible protection under employment law?
An establishment with less than a certain number of employees (depending on the state and federal law) cannot function and the employment benefits and laws under therein are not applied to such establishments & employees. For instance, the Family and Medical Leave Act applies only to businesses with 50 or more employees) and any establishment with less than 50 employees are not bound by certain employment laws. Employees also have to typically work a certain number of days before obtaining the protection of certain laws.
Laws:[1]
United States laws aim in creating minimum social and economic rights, and encourage state laws to go beyond the minimum to favor employees Some favorable laws in these aspects are listed below:
- The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993creates a limited right to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in larger employers.
- The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974requires standards of prudent management and good governance if employers agree to provide pensions, health plans or other benefits.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970requires employees have a safe system of work.
- Roles of an employment lawyer
Employment lawyers typically specialize in representing either employers or employees, but rarely both. Those who represent employees might assist unions or work directly with employees to file lawsuits against employers or negotiate settlements for a wide range of grievances.[2]
Employment lawyers ensure that the right practices are employed for managing employee-employer relations. Since there exists diversity of issues pertaining to workplace, employment lawyers play crucial role in assisting both employers as well as employees. Laws listed above and many more Acts have come into force to secure fair treatment of employees.
- Conduct negotiations,
- Advise clients on potent legal issues,
- Draft legal arguments,
- Representing clients on the case.
“Employment law is defined more broadly as the negotiated relationships between employers and employees. Although employment lawyers deal with many of the same parties as labor lawyers (i.e., workers and companies), they conventionally address issues that fall outside the framework of union-management relations and collective bargaining. As a result, the extent to which statutes or regulations pertain to unions and union-workers usually determines whether or not they are regarded as components of “labor law” or “employment law.”[3]
Unemployment is a major issue to tackle at hand. Some parts of the population are always left unemployed for various reasons and becomes a problematic task for some to pay their bills or live a quality of life and become part of the greater community. It is fortunate to have employment laws that protect victims from unforeseen contingencies.
[1] Wikipedia. [2] https://www.lawstudies.com/article/four-reasons-to-specialize-in-employment-law/ [3] https://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/2008/06/laboremployment2012.pdf
