U.S. Employment Regulations - Essay Example

 U.S. Employment Regulations Introduction Every employer operating in the U.S. must comply with existing employment laws and regulations. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provide regulations that will affect employment policies and activities in the U.S. The primary goal of the company is to comply with existing American laws regarding employment, as well as to deter and to respond to all kinds of harassment in the workplace. The white paper explains related U.S. employment regulations and discusses implications for the company’s global workplace. Employment Laws This section discusses all critical employment laws. Most of them are obtained from the Employment Law Guide: Laws, Regulations, and Technical Assistance Services of the DOL. Wages and Hours Worked: Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) implements the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Act provides policies for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. It gives exemptions for minimum wage and overtime pay (See Appendix A). The Act obliges employers of covered employees to pay them a minimum wage of not less than $7.25 per hour (DOL, 2004). Youth employees, who are below 20 years of age, may receive a minimum wage of not lower than $4.25 an hour, during the first 90 successive calendar days of employment (DOL, 2004). Employers are not allowed to terminate existing employees to hire youth, or people whom they can pay the youth minimum wage (DOL, 2004). Furthermore, employers can adopt a piece-rate basis in paying employees, as long as the latter get at least the required minimum hourly wage rate and overtime for hours worked that are more than 40 hours in a workweek (DOL, 2004). In addition, the Act allows the employment of particular individuals at wage rates below the statutory minimum wage, as long as they get certificates from the Department of Labor. They are the following: “Student learners; full‑time students in service establishments, agriculture, or higher education; and individuals whose productive capacities for the work to be performed are impaired by physical or mental disabilities…” (DOL, 2004). The Act does not provide limitations for hours or days per week of work, as long as the employee is not less than sixteen years old (DOL, 2004). Nevertheless, the Act obliges employers to compensate covered employees for overtime pay, which is not less than one and one-half times their standard rate of pay, for all hours that exceed 40 in a workweek, unless employees are considered as exempted. See Appendix A for exempted employees. Occupational Safety and Health The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the office that implements the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act). The OSH Act includes all employers and their employees in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other American territories (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). See also OSHA law & regulations from DOL. The OSHA has two regulatory purposes: creating standards and inspecting organizations, so that it can determine if employers are giving safe and healthful work environments (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). Compliance with standards can comprise of applying engineering controls to decrease exposures to physical dangers and toxic substances, imposing administrative controls, and making sure that employees have been duly trained in the use personal protective equipment, when necessary for safety and health (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). Moreover, employers must follow all rules and regulations that are related to their own actions, including areas where the OSHA has not given a precise standard for handling organization-specific hazard. The Act includes the “general duty” clause to ensure that organizations are aware of their responsibility for the health and safety of their employees (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). The general duty clause [Section 5(a)(1)] asserts that employers “shall be a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees” (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). Moreover, the OSH Act promotes that employers must establish their own safety and health programs. The OSHA endorses and checks these “state plans,” which function under the influence of state law (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). Around twenty-seven OSHA State Plan States are present. States with OSHA-supported job safety and health plans must put standards that are at least as effectual as the equal federal standard (DOL, n.d., “Safety and health”). Regulations against Harassment Harassment is a type of employment discrimination that breaches Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Altogether, these laws guarantee protections from discrimination because of age, gender, religion, race, disability, national origin, and pregnancy. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (n.d.) defines harassment as “unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information” (“Harassment”). Harassment becomes illegal when 1) it becomes “enduring,” where the malicious conduct becomes part of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is harsh or persistent enough to generate a work environment that a logical person would perceive as “intimidating, hostile, or abusive” (EEOC, n.d., “Harassment”). Harassment can also include “sexual harassment” or unwanted sexual advances, demands for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not need to have a sexual nature, nevertheless, and can comprise of offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For instance, it is considered as sexual harassment if offensive comments are made about women in general. Employer Liability for Harassment The employer is immediately legally responsible for harassment by a supervisor that creates negative employment action, for instance, termination, no promotion or hiring, and decrease or loss of wages (EEOC, n.d., “Harassment”). If the supervisor's harassment produces an aggressive work environment, the employer can avoid liability, only if it can establish that: 1) it convincingly tried to impede and rapidly stop the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee did not exploit any precautionary or corrective opportunities from the side of the employer (EEOC, n.d., “Harassment”). Furthermore, the employer will be legally responsible for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees (i.e. independent contractors or customers on the location of shops or workplaces), if it is aware, or should have been aware about the harassment and did not conduct the right and fast corrective action (EEOC, n.d., “Harassment”). Thus, employers must be highly proactive in preventing harassment, and swiftly reactive in dealing with harassment complaints. Affirmative Action The Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) implements the amended Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the affirmative action provisions (Section 4212) of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act. These laws criminalize discrimination and oblige Federal contractors and subcontractors to apply affirmative action to make certain that all individuals have an equivalent opportunity for employment, without considering race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as a Vietnam era or special disabled veteran (DOL, 2002). An affirmative action plan must have three components: “a reasonable self analysis; a reasonable basis for concluding action is appropriate; and reasonable action” (U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), 2012). The goal of self analysis is to establish whether employment practices do, or are inclined to, rule out, disadvantage, limit, or produce negative impact or incongruent treatment of formerly restricted groups and if so, to try understand why (GPO, 2012). If there is reasonable basis of violations of title VII action, actions must follow next. Reasonable action may comprise of goals and timetables or other suitable employment tools which distinguish the race, sex, or national origin of applicants or employees (GPO, 2012). It may include the implementation of policies and practices that remove adverse impacts of differential treatment. The goal is to ensure that existing discrimination is addressed and future discrimination is prevented. Applications and Implications of U.S. Regulations The company must comply with all U.S. employment regulations and legislation. The particular concerns are the following: Following Fair Labor Standards Act through providing the right minimum wages and overtime pay for covered employees. Ensuring compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 through generating a company safety and health program. Avoiding harassment of all types through creating an anti-harassment policy. Sexual harassment will be particularly defined and described, so that any forms that lead to it can be properly determined and avoided and that any sexual harassment action meets the right penalties. Promoting equality measures through producing an affirmative action policy and diversity management program. Some of the implications of following U.S. employment regulations to the global workplace are related to having standard workplace policies, when applicable. These implications are the following: Providing parallel programs across the globe, particularly having a uniform safety and health, anti-harassment, diversity management, and affirmative action policies. All employees deserve equal civil rights and freedoms at the workplace, wherever they may be. Corresponding wages and overtime pay to employment regulations per nation, since standards of living differ per country. The company cannot apply the same wages to operations in other countries. It will, nevertheless, follow, and aim to exceed, if performance is exemplary, industry and company wage levels and benefits. The company, because of its commitment of the U.S. to human rights and worker rights, will become more dedicated to creating an organization culture that promotes and protects employee interests. Summary The company wants to comply with all U.S. employment regulations and standards. This paper describes significant employment laws and rules. It also provides actions for the company and implications for global operations, specifically the creation of safety and health, anti-harassment, diversity management, and affirmative action policies. Some of the implications of following U.S. employment regulations are having standard workplace policies, when applicable, and enhancing company commitment to generating and promoting ethical and socially-responsible work conditions and operations. References U.S. Department of Labor. (2002). Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/aa.htm ______________. (2004, August 23). Wages and hours worked: Minimum wage and overtime pay. Employment Law Guide. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/minwage.htm _______________. (n.d.). Safety and health standards: Occupational safety and health. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/osha.htm _______________. (n.d.). OSHA law & regulations. Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). (n.d.). EEOC regulations. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/regulations/index.cfm _______________. (n.d.). Harassment. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/harassment.cfm ________________. (n.d.). Laws enforced by EEOC. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/index.cfm U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). (2012). Part 1608—Affirmative Action appropriate under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act Of 1964, as amended. Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title29-vol4/xml/CFR-2012-title29-vol4-part1608.xml Appendix A: Exemptions to Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay This section is taken verbatim from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts some employees from its overtime pay and minimum wage provisions, and it also exempts certain employees from the overtime pay provisions only. Because the exemptions are narrowly defined, employers should check the exact terms and conditions for each by contacting their local Wage and Hour Division office. The following are examples of employees exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements: Executive, administrative, and professional employees (including teachers and academic administrative personnel in elementary and secondary schools), outside sales employees, and certain skilled computer professionals (as defined in the Department of Labor's regulations) 1 Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments Employees of certain small newspapers and switchboard operators of small telephone companies Seamen employed on foreign vessels Employees engaged in fishing operations Employees engaged in newspaper delivery Farm workers employed on small farms (i.e., those that used less than 500 "man‑days" of farm labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year) Casual babysitters and persons employed as companions to the elderly or infirm The following are examples of employees exempt from the overtime pay requirements only: Certain commissioned employees of retail or service establishments Auto, truck, trailer, farm implement, boat, or aircraft salespersons employed by non‑manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasers Auto, truck, or farm implement parts‑clerks and mechanics employed by non-manufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasers Railroad and air carrier employees, taxi drivers, certain employees of motor carriers, seamen on American vessels, and local delivery employees paid on approved trip rate plans Announcers, news editors, and chief engineers of certain non‑metropolitan broadcasting stations Domestic service workers who reside in their employers' residences Employees of motion picture theaters Farmworkers Certain employees may be partially exempt from the overtime pay requirements. These include: Employees engaged in certain operations on agricultural commodities and employees of certain bulk petroleum distributors Employees of hospitals and residential care establishments that have agreements with the employees that they will work 14‑day periods in lieu of 7‑day workweeks (if the employees are paid overtime premium pay within the requirements of the Act for all hours worked over eight in a day or 80 in the 14‑day work period, whichever is the greater number of overtime hours) Employees who lack a high school diploma, or who have not completed the eighth grade, who spend part of their workweeks in remedial reading or training in other basic skills that are not job specific. Employers may require such employees to engage in these activities up to 10 hours in a workweek. Employers must pay normal wages for the hours spent in such training but need not pay overtime premium pay for training hours. Read More