When you own or run a business, you have a lot of things to think about. From day-to-day operations to standalone issues, it is easy to feel overwhelmed about all that you need to remember. When employment issues arise, your job can feel even harder. Even if you have a competent staff and are an experienced manager, issues do arise, and it is important to understand the laws and restrictions that surround them.
There are many employment laws that need to be followed, and it often feels overwhelming to remember them all. However, each of these laws can be separated into five different employment law categories. Understanding these categories makes it easier to follow the rules and laws involved.
The Importance of Employment Laws
When you adhere to employment laws, you improve workplace morale and attract good employees. When employees are treated with kindness and respect, they are likely to stay on your staff for the long term. What’s more, you can avoid fines, citations, lawsuits, and other legal action from the government.
Five Pertinent Categories of Employee Law:
- Civil Right Laws As you may already know, there are several characteristics that are protected under the law. As an employer, you are not allowed to discriminate against employees based on these protected classes. If you do so, legal action may be taken against you. These characteristics include:
- Race
- Religion
- Gender and gender expression
- Age
- Ability, disability, or medical condition
- Sexual orientation
- National origin
- Whistleblowing activity
This means that you cannot promote, demote, hire, fire, favor, or otherwise single out an employee based on one of the above categories. For example, you may not promote men in your company simply because they are men or because of a prejudice against the women in your office.
There are many different civil rights laws of varying ages. The objective of all of them is to protect individuals from discrimination.
- Compensation Laws There are several laws surrounding compensation. Though these may vary slightly depending on the industry, they are all in place to protect workers’ wages. Remember, no matter how much they love their job and their coworkers, each worker ultimately shows up to work for the money that they receive. Compensation laws cover a few areas, including:
- Minimum wage requirements
- Pay and hours for minors
- Overtime pay requirements
- Workers’ compensation following an accident or injury
- Child labor laws
By following the laws in each of these areas, you ensure that your employees are compensated in accordance with the law.
- Family and Medical Leave Laws It is important to remember that workers have the right to take time off work for their own medical reasons or to care for a family member with medical needs. This includes pregnancy needs. Under the law, each employee may take 12 weeks off for family and medical leave within a 12-month period. This time is unpaid, but you cannot fire them or permanently replace them. There are a few caveats to these laws:
- The employee must have worked for at least 12 months prior to the family or medical leave period.
- The employee must have worked more than 1250 hours in the 12 months leading to their family or medical leave.
Though you do not have to pay your employee during a family or medical leave, you do have to allow them to come back to work when they are able, if they fit the criteria mentioned.
- Workplace Safety Laws OSHA, as well as other agencies, have strict standards about how employers must make their workplaces safe for employees. Though the application of these standards will be different in every industry, their importance remains the same. Some basic requirements include:
- Providing employees with proper safety equipment
- Properly training them to do their jobs and operate any machinery that goes along with their position
- Not allowing uncertified individuals to work with heavy machinery
- Ensuring that your employees are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Not punishing employees who do not perform workplace activities because of a safety concern
- Alerting employees of their rights under OSHA standards
- Not asking employees to break OSHA standards for any reason
It is important to remember that these standards are not only in place for your employees, but they are also in place for you as well. If you do not follow these guidelines and an employee gets hurt, you are liable to pay out a significant amount in damages. Your employee can easily sue for a significant amount of money, and it might be difficult to fight them.
Your best course of action is to thoroughly research OSHA standards for your industry and follow them closely.
- Work Eligibility Laws There are a few laws that depict who can work and what jobs they can do. These standards are in place to protect workers, taxpayers, and customers and ensure that every workplace remains fair under the United States laws. It is important that you verify immigration status before hiring new workers. If an immigrant is undocumented, you cannot legally hire them to work for you. This process can be confusing, so it is important to seek an attorney’s input if you are unsure of what to do.It is also important to check the age and work status of potential employees. There are restrictions in different industries about how old employees must be. Some individuals have restrictions on their ability to work by law, so you must check that as well.
Contact Fishman Larsen Callister
If you need legal advice for your business and do not have an attorney on staff, contact the expert lawyers here at Fishman Larsen Callister. We have decades of combined experience in employment law and can help you to navigate any legal situations that arise in your business. If you don’t have any active complaints, we can help to ensure that you are following standards and protecting yourself against future legal action.
Don’t put your business and livelihood at risk. Contact Fishman Larsen Callister today.