United States legal system provides a variety of legal obligations that are impacted when doing business. They entail the employment laws that are very essential as they are likely to be encountered by a company immediately upon commencing business and also provide compliance that is heavily regulated. The labor and employment laws in the United States are derived from a variety of legal sources that include: constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations and common law that entail unwritten customs, principles as well as rules and case laws (Cihon & Castagnera, 2011). The focus of the paper is identifying major employment-related laws and regulations, giving a clear and comprehensive interpretation of these laws as they apply to Pomodoro Inc.
The laws on employment and labor in the United States cover basically everything from precluding discrimination and aggravation within the working place, wage and hour laws and workers’ compensation regulations. In order to understand and comply with these laws every company should find out the federal employment laws that apply to their business. This should be accompanied by the state labor laws as well as the guide on employment laws as well as the various ways of hiring employees (Cihon & Castagnera, 2011).
It is very difficult to provide a small business owner with the entire description of all the administrative regulations, constitutional amendments, federal, state and local laws, executive orders, and case laws that affect employment issues. Therefore, it requires large companies and even organizations with full time human resource and in-house legal staffs to work diligently in order to sustain their updated employment law developments. It also allows most organizations to have relationships with specialized law firms to keep them current and compliant (McGuigan, 2008). This can be understood through the case of employment discrimination that requires thirty nine separate Federal Constitutional Amendments to deal with just this one aspect of employment. The employment and labor laws elaborate on various factors that affect the working environment. The laws govern employment matters on issues such as: minimum wage, work hours and overtime, wage payment that includes the frequency, methods, direct deposits, pay on termination, deduction from wages, public holidays, payroll records and reports, child labor laws, free speech protection and job references. This is coupled with aspects such as labor relations Act criminal history records discrimination in employment Act as well workers compensation retaliation prohibition (Employment Law, 2013).
These laws define the legal process that should be adhered to in operating a business whether big or small. They help organizations stay out of trouble with the legal enforcers. The employment and labor laws should help organizations such as Pomodoro by outsourcing their payroll function in order to allow third-party to assume responsibility for all laws related to taxes, paying minimum wage and making state and local employee reports. The organization should get connected with a competent employment and labor lawyer who is aware of your business. These aspects will be very vital in describing the policy to be used in the organization that will help them observe labor and employment laws (Ryley, 2006). This requires them to follow the human resource processes and practices as they help the organization follow all the requirements. Similarly discrimination in the organization should be avoided in all aspects be it hiring, payments, benefits, work assignment just to mention but a few. Discrimination against a person’s race, color, religion, sex, gender, ethnicity, national origin, age, marital status and disability should be eliminated. Sexual harassment should be dealt with appropriately. Compensation should also be another part of the policy implemented in the organization as well as a safe workplace that abides to all the federal and state occupational health and safety requirements (McGuigan, 2008).
A written policy will be essential for defining the issues about workplace violence, harassment and discrimination in that it will inform employees about the behaviors that are not appropriate and acceptable within the organization. It should eliminate the issues of intimidation, harassment, violence and bullying as well as defined the causative action that should be taken when such incidents occur. The policy should also contain several contacts that give directs on whom to inform in cases such incidents occur. It will also encourage employees to report such incidents and portray the good intentions of the management in dealing with violence, harassment and other unacceptable behavior (Cihon & Castagnera, 2011). The policy should contain preventive measures that define the course of action and practices that should be adopted. These include: workplace design, administrative practices, and work practices. To start with, workplace design defines the factors such as the layout, use of signs, physical barriers, surveillance as well as security. These will help the organization to keep in line with the laws on employment and labor as it will prevent any accidents that may occur to the employees. It requires the organization to ensure that all aspects of the organization are maintained and in good condition to prevent any accidents (Cihon & Castagnera, 2011).
The administrative practices entail the decisions made within the organization on how to carry out activities and operate the business. They include ensuring that all activities run smoothly and all employees are involved in the activities necessary. The hiring process, salaries and wages should be analyzed by the administration to ensure that they comply with the employment and labor laws. Discrimination should be avoided as well as harassment of any level. If any instances should be reported the involved parties should be fired in accordance to the law (Employment Law, 2013). The work place practices include all the things that are carried out within the normal operations of the organization. They require preparation of work plans that help in identifying a designated contact that informs of all the procedures. This should be operated in a manner that is genuine and open to all the workers despite their age, color, or gender. They should define the procedures that determine the market rate and decide on how to attract the right applicants. It should also give details of the process that should be used to select and test the applicants (Employment Law, 2013).
The hiring process requires knowledge and awareness of what must be done in order to legally hire new employees in terms of verifying their legality to work in the country. Discrimination against race, color, gender, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability can be claimed for any treatment of an employee because of their protected status. This should be avoided by clearly showing a non-discriminatory reason for your decision that is related to the business.
References
Cihon, P. J., & Castagnera, J. (2011). Employment & labor law. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
EMPLOYMENT LAW -- TITLE VII -- FIFTH CIRCUIT HOLDS EVIDENCE OF SEX STEREOTYPING INSUFFICIENT IN SAME-SEX HARASSMENT ACTION. -- EEOC v. Boh Bros. Construction Co., 689 F.3d 458 (5th Cir. 2012). (2013). Harvard Law Review, 126 (6), 1699-1706.
McGuigan, K.T. (2008). Recent developments in employment law and litigation. Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, 43 (3), 349-373.
Ryley, M. (2006). Employment law aspects of mergers and acquisitions: A practical guide. London: Thorogood.
