Employment Law Compliance Plan - Essay Example

Employment Law Compliance Plan al Affiliation Memorandum Landslide Limousine Atwood and Allen Consulting March 19, 2015 Subject: Employment Law Compliance Plan Texas is one of the states that have high regard for the rights of employees. As such, the state has enacted quite a number of employment laws that seek to ensure that the rights of employees are not violated by employers. However, apart from the state laws, Cascio (2013) notes that the employment in the state is also regulated by the federal laws. Noncompliance with any of the employment laws applicable in the state can attract heavy penalties. From the email conversation, Bradley Stonefield categorically stated that he intends to start a limousine transport service in Austin, Texas. Additionally, Stonefield stated that he intends to have at least 25 employees during the first year of business operations. Therefore, this memorandum seeks to identify the most relevant employment laws that Stonefield must be concerned about when creating a compliance plan. The first and most critical employment law that Stonefield must be aware as he seeks to start a limousine business in Austin, Texas is the Texas Payday Law. This is because noncompliance with this law can attract a heavy penalty on the part of Stonefield as an employer. The law provides protection to employees who have not been paid all the salaries due to them. The Texas Payday Law is applicable to all businesses that are conducted in Texas with the exception of public employers. According to this law, any employee who feels that his or her employer has not paid all his earned wages in full can bring a complaint against the employer with the Texas Workforce Commission within 180 days after the date that the wages not yet paid became in arrears for payment. The commission will then takes up the matter and investigate it. As such, in the event that the Commission rules in favor of a worker, the employer can be required to pay up to $1,000 in damages for noncompliance with the Texas Payday Law (Attorney General of Texas, 2013). Similarly, in the case that the Commission finds that the employee acted in bad faith, then the employee who filed the complained may also be required to pay the same amount as damages. Additionally, the Texas Payday Law also spell out how employers are supposed to compensate employees, which can either be monthly on weekly depending on the method that an employer deems appropriate. According to the Texas Payday Law, it is not a requirement that an employer pay a worker for lunches, vacation, and breaks. Nevertheless, all employers regardless of the size of the business are required by the law to compensate their employees for attending meetings organized by a company. Any employer who violates this requirement may be required to pay a fine equal to the salaries plus 25% for every employee in addition to the salaries not yet paid (Texas Workforce Commission, 2015). Therefore, it would be appropriate for Stonefield to understand the provisions of this law to avoid facing penalties for noncompliance. The second critical employment law that Stonefield must ensure compliance with is the American with Disability Act (ADA). The ADA law that prohibits employers with 15 employees and above from discriminating against an employee based on disability (Texas Young Lawyers Association, 2008). It is important for Stonefield to understand that the law offer protections to all forms of disability, including hearing, talking, walking, learning and seeing. Additionally, the ADA also recognizes the fact that some employers tend to discriminate against people with certain terminal illnesses. As such, the ADA law has been an amendment and currently offer protection to employees suffering from HIV/AIDs, as well as individuals who have completed rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol. ADA also requires certain groups of employers, such as agencies, hotels banks, and workshops to provide people with disability functioning accommodation. Some of these accommodations include elevators and access ramps among others. Therefore, in case an employee files a complaint and it turns out that an employer has violated the ADA provisions, the employer may be compelled to provide the employee with a job offer, reinstate the employee, provide reasonable accommodation or back pay the employee among other penalties that the Commission deems appropriate. Another important employment law that Stonefield must take into consideration when creating an employment plan is the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). IRCA law addresses employment issues related to eligibility of a worker to work in the United States and discrimination issues. According to the ARCA, no American employer is allowed to hire a foreigner who has no authority to work in the country (Attorney General of Texas, 2013). This implies that, during recruitment, an employer must exercise due care by carefully verifying all the documents of an applicant to be sure that the persons being hired are authorized to work in the country. As such, an employer found guilty of hiring a foreigner not permitted to work in the country can be fined between $100 and $1000 for every employee hired illegally. In addition, a sanction can be brought against an employer who is found to have a history of hiring people who are not authorized to work in the country. Therefore, since the client intends to start a business in Austin, Texas, understanding and complying with this law will be very critical for the business. The other relevant employee law that the client should factor in when creating employment compliance plan is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The ADEA of 1967 provides protection to older employees aged 40 years and older from discriminatory hiring, promotion, compensation, and terms of service, privileges, and discharge. According to the law, no employer should discriminate against an employee based on his or her age in hiring, promotion, compensation, discharge, terms of service and in awarding privileges among others. Violation of the law attracts a heavy fine of up to $500 (Texas Young Lawyers Association, 2008). Apart from the fine, an employer who is convicted of discriminating against an employee based on age can be imprisoned for a period of not more than one year or both. As such, it would be very critical that the client take this law into consideration when creating the employment plan for the business to avoid falling on the wrong side of the law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is another important employee law that the client must take into consideration when coming up with an employment plan for the business. This is because the business will be required to comply fully with the law failure to which the business may face serious penalties. According to the Act and its amendments, employers are prohibited from discriminating an employee in hiring, promoting, and compensation based on race, sex, color, gender, religion and nationality (Attorney General of Texas, 2013). Although the law was passed in 1964, the law has since undergone some amendments as was the case in 1972 in which the Act was expanded to incorporate private and public employers having 15 or more employees. Therefore, because the client intends to have at least 25 employees, this law will apply to his business. Thus, he will have to comply with it. Failure to comply with the law attracts a penalty, which may include punitive or compensatory damages. Additionally, the client also needs to understand the provisions of the Texas Minimum Wage Act. The Texas Minimum Wage Act requires all employers conducting business in the state to provide with a statement of written earnings that has the information regarding the amount paid to the employee. The Texas Minimum Wage Act has adopted the minimum wage requirement under the federal government, which stands at $7.25 per hour (Texas Workforce Commission, 2015). However, the law allows an employee to negotiate with an employer for a higher pay. It is also important for the client to understand that the Texas Minimum Wage Act does not make it mandatory for an employer to compensate a pay a worker who happens to reside in the business premises in addition to the payment of the assigned working hours. The law also allows an employee to file a legal action against an employer if the employee feels that the rate paid by the employer is lower than the minimum required by the law (Texas Workforce Commission, 2015). In this respect, an employee has two years within which to file a lawsuit against an employer from the time the wages fell due for recovery of the amount of money not yet paid by the employer plus the liquidated damages that accrue therefrom. In fact, an employer who is found guilty of violating the law can be compelled to foot both the court costs and attorneys fees. Complying with the stated employment laws is important for the client, Landslide Limousine since it would ensure that the business operates within the Texas and Federal laws as they apply to the Limo transport services. The object of this memo, therefore, was not just to educate our client regarding the employment laws that are relevant to his business, but also to help him understand all the employment laws that are applicable to the business and the industry where it operates. References Attorney General of Texas. (2013). Right-to-work laws in Texas. Retrieved from https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/agency/righttowork.shtml Cascio, W. F. (2013). Managing human resources. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Texas Workforce Commission. (2015). Employee rights & laws. Retrieved from http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/employee-rights-laws Texas Young Lawyers Association. (2008). Employers guide to general employment law: Employment law basics for new employers. Austin, TX: Texas Young Lawyers Association. Read More