Introduction
Generally, the field of human resources administration is significantly influenced and shaped by the state and federal laws that govern employment issues. It is important to recognize that regulations and laws actually govern all aspects of human resource management from recruitment, placement, and development to compensation. Additionally, human resource management is a dynamic field that has considerably advanced from its early days when it was simply concerned with personnel management in organizations. Therefore, the human resources function in organizations has the responsibility to comply with all the laws governing employment (Sun et al., 2007). As such, the human resource managers play a significant role within the organization’s compliance structure. The common examples of laws governing the employer-employee relationship include the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the minimum wage and rights to overtime pay for particular workers. The Family and Medical Leave Act grants certain employees the right to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave each year in case of specific circumstances. Further to that, the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Act, establishes certain rights and protection of employees who are called to active duty in the military. Organizations should realize that human resources compliance is essential for success in the current legal environment. As such, human resource compliance should be considered as a process of defining both the individual and group behaviors in order to ensure that organization’s applicable laws and policies are effectively adhered to. Additionally, the human resources function in organizations should seriously consider hiring and retaining individuals that are knowledgeable about the specific legal aspects of human resource administration. Such human resource personnel should be able to create policies and procedures in relation to relevant labor laws.
Anti-Discrimination
Discrimination is one of the aspects of human resource administration that may impact the success of the human resource function. Discrimination is prohibited in the workplace and there are laws that cushion employees and potential employees from discrimination by human resources personnel in organizations (Ferner et al., 2005). For instance, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 serves to prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of race, religion, color, sex or national origin. This particular regulation applies to all employers who had more than fifteen employees every day for at least twenty weeks during the current or prior calendar year. As such, employers are not allowed by law to refuse to hire an employee, dismiss him from employment, or even discriminate against the employees for on whatever grounds. Additionally, an employer may not retaliate against a particular employee for making a charge of discrimination under the Act. Furthermore, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act extends the prohibition of discrimination in hiring and firing actions to include employees aged 40 years and older. However, the legislation has no implications on businesses with less than twenty employees. Therefore, dealing with human resource issues of discrimination requires a combination of reactive and proactive measures. Proactive measures entail demonstrating good faith efforts that help to prevent workplace discrimination as well as harassments. As such, human resources best practices for addressing discrimination should actually be embraced in organizations. Although discrimination may be an inevitable and unfortunate consequence following the varied work styles, generations and personalities as well as the level of diversity in the workplace, employers should endeavor to develop effective ways of dealing with human resources issues of discrimination by utilizing basic workplace principles based on mutual respect and adherence to laws that prohibit discrimination.
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Wage and Hour
The amount of wage the employees earned per unit time as well as the length of time they work per day affects the general welfare of employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the amount of the federal minimum wage that should be paid to employees. The amount of federal minimum wage is normally revised on a periodic basis (Schuler et al., 1993). The human resources professionals of organizations should constantly verify the accuracy of the amount paid to employees because several states have legislation establishing a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum. Therefore, it is actually important to be always updated with information regarding the federal and state minimum wage in order to avoid violating the established labor laws governing employee wages. Moreover, there are also extensive child labor regulations that establish the minimum age of individuals to be employed by organization. The Fair Labor Standards Act regulations also demand that all covered employees should be paid overtime for any hours worked over 40 in a typical work week. However, there are several exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a result, human resources professionals in a given organization should ensure that employees are appropriately classified for their job duties. It is important to realize that failure to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act can lead to serious penalties and back pay for up to two years, or even three, particularly if the violation is deemed to be willful. The size of organization does not determine the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act laws as it does not specify a given minimum number of employees.
Leave Provisions
Leave provisions form an integral part of the employees welfare in the workplace. One of the laws governing leave provisions for employees in organizations is the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act serves to provide employees with the ability to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period. The employees can take up such leaves for a variety of circumstances such as serious health conditions of the employee, his spouse or child, a qualifying exigency related to active military service, or bonding with a new baby. It is important to realize that up to 26 weeks of leave are basically permitted for an employee who is caring for an eligible service member. Additionally, employees are entitled to job protection, particularly during the absence. The regulation also directs that the health coverage of employees on leave also continues as if they had actually remained at work. The employers should realize that it is upon them to realize that Family and Medical Leave Act time is appropriate. Therefore, the human resources professionals in organizations should effectively train managers and supervisors on the eligible reasons that should be considered for leave.
Medical and Disability
Organizations are generally required by law to treat employees with a disability or medical condition humanely. As such, various federal laws regulate the employers regarding how they should treat an employee with a medical condition or disability. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits employers from discriminating employees on the basis of a disability or even perceived disability (David et al., 2006). In addition, the Act also requires employers to make reasonable accommodation to enable employees to perform their work duties. The employers are also required by law to ensure that disabled customers can conveniently access the good and services the company provides. As such, companies are required by the Act to modify their premises in such a way that customers can access the facility. Another medical legislation involves the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act. The Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act, prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of genetic information including a family history of a particular disorder. As such, organizations should ensure that employees are not discriminated against on the basis of a genetic medical disorder. There is also another legislation which protects employees from medical information disclosure. The Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act, serves to effectively protect the privacy of employees regarding their medical information. This means that the human resources professionals have the responsibility of training managers on what information they should, or should not require with regards to an employee’s medical situation. Therefore, the regulations that apply to medical and disability issues of employees should not be violated in organizations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is demonstrable that human resources administration in organizations is significantly influenced by state and federal laws and regulation governing employment. There are several legislations in place that regulate the human resources practices in organizations. The various legislations include the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act among others. The human resources professionals should put in place policies and procedures aimed at meeting the requirements of such employment regulations. The employment legislations serve to protect the employee from unscrupulous employers. As such, the governments involved are concerned with the welfare of their working citizens who double up as tax payers.
References
David, H., Kerr, W. R., & Kugler, A. D. (2007). Does employment protection reduce productivity? Evidence from US states. The Economic Journal, 117(521). Ferner, A., Almond, P., & Colling, T. (2005). Institutional theory and the cross-national transfer of employment policy: The case of ‘workforce diversity’ in US multinationals. Journal of International Business Studies, 36(3), 304-321. Schuler, R. S., Dowling, P. J., & De Cieri, H. (1993). An integrative framework of strategic international human resource management. Journal of management, 19(2), 419-459. Sun, L. Y., Aryee, S., & Law, K. S. (2007). High-performance human resource practices, citizenship behavior, and organizational performance: A relational perspective. Academy of management Journal, 50(3), 558-577.
