There are many laws governing employment and labor relations in the United States. As a school owner or someone looking to be employed as a teacher, you will have to understand how these regulations operate and when they can be applied. The many laws governing labor can be overwhelming to understand primarily because the employment dynamics are always shifting. Some regulations overlap while others apply only to specific situations. These laws also range from civil rights to workers’ compensation. Here’s a closer look at some of the common regulations that govern employer-employee relationship in the education sector.
Civil Rights Law
States have implemented various legislation that prevent all forms of discriminatory acts. Advocacy against racial and gender inequality is a long-standing issue that the civil rights movement sought to address. Decades later, laws along this line are being implemented, and many amendments are made to incorporate other forms of discrimination, including religious and age. Among the remarkable legislation passed include the Americans with Disability Act, which bars an employer from hiring or firing an individual based on their disabilities.
Family and Medical Leave Act
When a student gets a family or medical emergency, they can hire a custom essay writing service to get their papers done. However, a teacher would have to take time off from work. The Family and Medical Leave Act sets out the number of days employees can stay away from work when sick or when they have family emergencies. It provides that employees can take an unpaid leave of up to twelve weeks to handle such needs and that their employment contract must not be terminated if they are away on such emergencies. However, it is essential to note that this law only applies to those working in institutions with more than fifty employees. Also, both public and private sector workers can bring a lawsuit under this legislation.
Workers’ Compensation
The workers’ compensation law provides grounds under which an employee can file a personal injury lawsuit and is meant to protect employees from being exposed to hazardous work environments. This law allows employers to take up compensation insurance for their employees, which eliminates their legal liability in case an employee is injured in the line of duty. However, employers who fail to purchase compensation insurance are not protected by this law and may have to pay damages in case a personal injury case is brought against them.
Labor Relations Law
The labor relations law provides protection for employees who may want to join a union. According to this regulation, employers cannot discriminate against an employee for participating in trade union affairs. This law further allows employees to participate in strikes or demonstrations for improving their working conditions and rights. Protecting the employees under a trade union and those not in a union. But workers’ rights under this law are lost if they defame their employers ‘products or services not linked to any labor dispute. The act also stipulates that if an employee is terminated for striking or engaging in trade union activities, their job should be restored or they should be compensated.
Safety at Workplace
The Occupational Safety and Health Act is one of the most important workplace safety laws, mandating employers to provide a safe work environment. It considers the health and safety of workers to be most important. As a result, employees are protected from dangerous working conditions that could leave them injured or unwell. As explained by the Weinstein Legal Team if an employee is injured on the job, they can bring that forward as a personal injury case. However, to receive compensation under injury claim rights, the employee has to prove that the employer had a duty of care owed toward them, and whether it was breached and whether an injury was caused by reason of a breach.
Protection of Employee Privacy
When you need academic help and thinking, “I should pay someone to write my paper,” you would want it to be confidential, and the person who helps out shouldn’t give out any of your information. It is also true of education employment because employee privacy protection regulation precludes employers from handing employees personal information over to a third party. This law also outlines the rules and procedures for obtaining, using and disclosing employees’ personal information. Privacy laws also limit employer needs with regard to employee monitoring and drug testing to ensure there is no breach of privacy even when the employer is doing their due diligence.
Immigrant Employment
The Immigration Reform and Control Act was an important step in addressing the issue of immigrant employees. The act describes how employers should go about hiring foreign employees. Employers are also barred from employing illegal immigrants. To prevent such cases, they must do an eligibility test to see whether or not an immigrant can work in the country.
Whistleblower Protection
The Whistle Blower Protection Act was enacted to protect employees from retaliation. An employee can report an illegal act going on in their workplace without fear of being punished. An employer cannot terminate the contract of an employee who reports a violation or illegal act under this law. Therefore, it brings to light any fraudulent activities going on at an organization without compromising one’s job or reputation. Courts have handled some famous whistleblower cases, such as the Bridenbaugh case, also known as the (GE Three) that involved three nuclear engineers exposing the safety problems at a nuclear power plant. The same can be applied to education employment.
Final Take
Understanding the various employment laws helps employers maintain safety and compliance at workplaces. The laws may be too many and confusing, but a breach of any of them may have serious consequences. Employers always find themselves getting sued even for minor breaches that end up being costly lawsuits. Thus, education employers and employees need to understand more clearly their respective obligations in order to form a healthy working environment devoid of legal wrangling. It is also important to note that jurisdiction of these employment laws is bound by the state where one is. Therefore, one should be familiar with both federal and state laws.
