Introduction
Labor relations law is State and Federal laws that are applied in representing employees. The law represents employees in matters pertaining collective bargaining and also employer-union practices. The labor relations laws, the National Labour Relations Act in combination with the federal and state labor laws are responsible for making the legal counsel necessary.
The structure of the workplace, the responsibility of both employees and employer and conflict resolution at workplace is outlined in the labor and employment laws. At times, labor laws are contained in the federal regulations where provide the necessary direction to employers and employees on the issues of conflict resolution at workplaces. Labor laws are important because they provide better methods of problem solving. Thus, instead of employees and employers putting more of their effort into conflict resolution, they are able to focus on company productivity.
Labor laws provide small business employers with their duties and responsibilities. For example, the 1963 Equal Pay Act, the 1964 Title VII of Civil Rights Act and then the 1990 Act of Americans with Disabilities. All these Acts directs employers to maintain to the game of fair employment practices when recruiting, when they are hiring their workers, during training and when retraining their employees. The law defines fair employment practices as providing equal opportunities to employees. This is regardless of the employees disability, their origin their race or even gender. In general, labor laws provide employers with a framework to use when they are recruiting their employees. It also provides guidelines in the way that the employers maintain their human resource departments including promotion and retention of employees, (Mayhew, n.d.).
Organizations are able to retrieve guidance in structuring their business from labor and employment laws. For instance, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This Act dictates the minimum wage including overtime laws. This is for salaried and hourly employees both non-exempt and the exempt workers. The Act provides employers with guidance on best practices of record keeping. The Act requires businesses to maintain the pay records for employees for two years, (United States Department of Labor, n.d.).
Role of labor laws
There are two major purposes of labor laws. First is that it corrects the imbalance of power. This is imbalance of power between the employees and their employer. In this case, it protects the rights of workers of organizing trade unions that assist them to bargain collectively. The trade union formed safeguards the employees from employers who may want to dismiss a worker or workers without any good reason. Labor laws give the workers a platform on which they can negotiate equality, (Blackburn, 1998).
For instance, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The Act is meant to protect the right of workers to act collectively. This is in matters concerning their wages, their benefits including working conditions. The Act demand that the employers and the labor unions formed by workers work in a form of collaboration to negotiate agreements setting out terms and conditions to be applied in employment. This can result to productive workers because the employees have peace of mind, (Mayhew, n.d.).
The second important role of labor laws is that it protects the rights of workers concerning their working conditions. This is where the labor law limits the level to which the powerful party can possibly exploit the weaker party. It place restrictions on contracting party freedom of contracting because some contractors might create their own exploitative terms. These terms are over the issues such as health, safety, the working time and the payments, (Blackburn, 1998).
For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Act that was enacted in 1970 and Environmental Protection Act are meant to preserve the integrity of the organization. Principles of business and workplace ethics are built on these Acts. These Acts protect identities of employers and employees who involved in violating the public policies, the social and ethical responsibilities. The Occupational Safety and Health Act protect the safety of workers and their workplace. It places the responsibility upon the employers to provide their employees with a hazard free working environment, (United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.).
The origin and nature of labor law
The two aspects of labor law have provided a mean to intervene in bargaining. However, people have a perception that the law consist of state-issued rules. These perceptions originate from organized labor that was there in the post-war period. During this post-war period, people believed that the government or the State must be involved in maximizing the economic development including the social welfare. The labor laws during this time came up with mechanisms that promoted trade unions to act as a mechanism of national regulation in Western Europe. This was in the then Eastern bloc and United States. The 1930s New Deal Institutions went on promoting the rights of trade unions formation.
The post-war period was followed by the event of free market economy. The free market economy challenged the trade unions and avoided the regulation that came with trade unions. It challenged the trade unions as distorting and had personal interests. This caused decreased levels of union membership in most developed countries. It also caused disoriented labour movements that were previously present in the Eastern-bloc. Organized labour had to struggle to overcome the free market agenda. The free market period resulted to a body of law that was dedicated to restricting the freedom of trade unions, (Blackburn, 1998).
Sources of labor law
Major sources of labor law in most countries around the world are as follows: the national constitutions--many countries have constitutions that protect the rights of labour. Many constitutions around the world protect the right of collective bargaining, right to form trade unions and the right to strike. The other source is collective agreements. Throughout the world, labour regulation is base on collective agreements. Many countries have collective agreements that are legally binding thus they play a big role in national regulation. In this case, bargaining may be at the national level; sectoral level or even regional although this depends on the general legal framework. The third source is the labour legislation. Many countries in the world have increased the number of labour law statutes. This can be attributed to the formation of trade unions, control of the union’s elections and the industrial action.
Contract of employment is another source of labor laws. It is fundamental to understand the purpose of the contract of employment. This is in relation to the condition of the worker to the employer. Contract of employment has a major role in regulating the relationship in employment. Other sources of labor laws are supranational sources of law, international customary law, bilateral trade agreements and regional human rights treaties, (Blackburn, 1998).
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) was enacted in 1959. It affects many people in United States. The major reason for enactment LMRDA was to ensure that labor organizations that represent employees in most private industry maintains democracy and fiscal responsibility. LMRDA has six major provisions: it has a bill of rights for the union members; labour unions are required to disclose their financial information, labour unions are required to report and disclose to employers, consultants, union officers and employees when they want to engage in certain activities. They (labor unions) have a responsibility of maintaining trusteeships; LMRDA requires fair elections of union officers and finally it requires that the union’s officials have methods of protecting the union funds including assets, (Perez, n.d.). This kind of Act indicates the value of labor organizations in the implementation of the labor relations law because they millions of workers in United States.
Conclusion
It is important to observe that, regardless of the direction of labor law, whether drawn from private sources or even from the international bodies regulating the sector there is no likelihood of ending the existence of national labour courts. The most likely thing to happen is the gradual process of drawing of national labour codes by international organizations such as International Labour Organization (ILO). The drawing of these codes will concentrate on bringing these codes together to revolve around issues such as the fundamental rights. However, even as this happens, the most effective means of achieving the rights for the majority of workers is by encouraging efforts of trade unions including. The trade unions should be encouraged to take on collective bargaining. Trade unions can also help in enforcing the labour law depending on the specific national systems. For instance, it is the responsibility of the United States Department of Labor through the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) to enforce provisions of LMRDA.
Work Cited
Blackburn, D. Labor Law: Its Role, Trends and Potential. Labour Education 2006/2-3. (1998). No. 143- 144
Mayhew, R. Importance of Labor Laws. Retrieved April 3, 2014 from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/importance-labor-laws-10236.html (n.d.).
United States Department of Labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Retrieved April 3, 2014 from http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm (n.d.).
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Summary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Retrieved April 3, 2014 from http://www2.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-occupational-safety-and-health-act (n.d.).
Perez, T. Labor Relations. Retrieved April 3, 2014 from http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/labor-relations/ (n.d.).
