Various laws govern how human resource (HR) managers in the workplace. Normally, these laws deal with the issues that HR managers must contend with in their work functions such as overseeing and managing duties relating to employee benefits, hiring, firing, overtime, paychecks, and wages. Some of these laws also relate to employee harassment, preventing employee discrimination, privacy, and workplace safety. This essay will discuss some of the employment laws that managers must comply with to lawfully and effectively deal with employees.
A policy for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their disabilities (Weir, 2013). This law seeks to ensure that employers give the disabled the same rights and opportunities as others. It guarantees an equal employment opportunity for those with disabilities in all sectors. Managers who violate this Act risk facing costly penalties. Title III of the ADA contains the monetary penalties of violating this Act (Weir, 2013). It requires that managers must provide reasonable accommodations so that individuals with disabilities can equally access same opportunities, programs, and services as those given to others. By accommodation, the Act implies modifying physical spaces to eliminate physical barriers, providing auxiliary aids for communication and other context-specific adjustments to how work is done.
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A policy for the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
ADEA bans managers from discriminating against job applicants or employees based on age, given that they are over 40 years (Weir, 2013). According to this Act, in case a court finds a manager has infringed on the ADEA provisions, the manager must be ordered to do one of the following:
Back pay: The manager must pay the individual all benefits, wages and other forms of compensation lost due to the discrimination.
The manager should take actions to remedy the impacts of the discrimination. For instance, he/she may promote or restate the employee. However, if the court deems that such remedial action is warranted but impractical, like for instance, if the event damaged the working relationship beyond repair, the manager is required to pay the individual a front pay. This refers to compensation for all the future earnings lost (Weir, 2013). The manager involved in the discrimination case will be required to pay the attorney’s fees for the employee and other court costs
A policy for dealing with different types of harassment
Human resource managers are responsible for all kinds of employee harassment in the workplace. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), workplace harassment refers to any unwelcome behavior based on age, sex, gender, race, color, national origin, disability or religion (Weir, 2013). For harassment to be treated as illegal, it must be either severe or repetitive. Both managers who engage in harassment and the company in which the harassment happened might be punished for the offense. When an individual presents a workplace harassment case, both the company and the offender are likely to face legal consequences. Therefore, managers must have a particular policy of workplace harassment. This policy should start by defining harassment, the procedure for reporting harassment and the associated punishment. In case the harassment is repetitive or severe, then, the offender may be fired (Weir, 2013). For instance, when a manager asks for a sexual favor in exchange for some employment benefits, then, the most logical punishment for the manager is termination.
A policy for the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
OSHA regulates employee safety and health conditions in most industries (Hammaker, 2017). Companies under the OSHA are expected to adhere to the regulations, safety and health standards described by the OSHA. Moreover, HR managers are obliged by the OSHA to ensure their employees are free from any form of recognized hazards. The managers enforce this Act through policies for workplace inspections and investigations. However, managers who are found to violate this policy may pay violation fees and risk possible imprisonment. OSHA lists the following penalties for the different types of violations.
Sometimes managers engage in a willful violation of OSHA. Therefore, the manager either knowingly stopped to adhere to the legal requirement or heeded without concern to employee safety and health. The lowest penalty for this violation is a fine of $5,000 and at most $70,000 (Hammaker, 2017).
Other managers engage in serious violations of OSHA. Violating the OSHA leads to serious workplace dangers which could cause illness or an accident. Some of these accidents and illness can most likely lead serious physical harm or death to an employee. Therefore, managers who are found guilty of this violation receive a penalty of at least $7000 per violation (Hammaker, 2017).
Repeated violation is whereby a manager repeats the same infraction. Such managers should be fined a maximum of $70,000 for every repeat transgression (Hammaker, 2017).
A policy for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
FMLA is a Law that gives support to those who need time off work due to family responsibilities. This law requires HR managers to give employees unpaid leave for a matter about family or health issues. Moreover, these managers must give an employee at least 12 weeks of leave for the birth of a child, illness, illness of an immediate family member or adoption (Goldman et al. 2011). However, managers will be liable for penalties relating to the violation of this Law. Managers can fail to comply with this Act in two major ways. For one, they can fire an employee who goes on leave. In such a violation, the manager must reinstate the employee with lost benefits, back pay and other forms of compensation denied (Hammaker, 2017). Lastly, the manager may violate the Act by threatening to fire an employee who requests for leave or demote the employee in retaliation. In such cases, the manager would be liable any costs incurred by the employee as a result of the demotion or firing.
A policy for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The FLSA stipulates the required overtime pay, minimum wage, child labor standards and part-time employees in both public and private sectors. The provisions of FLSA apply to covered and non-exempt workers. Managers may violate this Law in various ways. For instance, they require kickbacks from employees and when they submit false payment information to the Department of Labor (DoL). Some manager may completely withhold these payment statements from the DoL investigators. Managers must understand that engaging in such violations can attract significant consequences. The employer will be required to pay the employee both liquidated damages and back pay (Goldman et al. 2011).
A policy for the Equal Pay Act (EPA)
The EPA requires that employers give men and women in the same job positions equal pay for an equal job done (Goldman et al. 2011). This law covers all forms of payment including bonuses, overtime pay, salary, stock options, bonus plans, profit sharing, reimbursements, hotel accommodation, all forms of allowances and employee benefits. Penalties for managers who violate the EPA are limited to:
Back pay: the employer must compensate the employee for all forms of pay such as lower benefits
The employer should raise the employee’s pay to the level of the opposite sex counterpart. It must be understood that the EPA prohibits employers from reducing the other employee’s pay instead (Weir, 2013).
Pay liquidated damages. The manager must give the affected individual a sum of money equal to the award of back pay (Goldman et al. 2011).
However, if a manager demotes or fires an employee (for instance a female employee) for filing an EPA claim against the manager, the manager would be required to promote or reinstate the employee and pay him/her lost wages and liquidated damages. The EPA articulates that the manager should not only pay the employee, he/she should also remedy the violation by increasing the pay of the other female employees doing similar work and must give them compensation with back pay which covers the entire violation period.
References
Goldman, A. L., Corrada, R. L., & Goldman, A. L. (2011). Labor law in the USA . Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International.
Hammaker, D. K. (2017). Healthcare management and the law: Principles and applications . New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Weir, R. E. (2013). Workers in America: A historical encyclopedia . Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
