Employment Laws and Human Resource Management Strategy - Term Paper Example

 Employment Laws and Human Resource Management Strategy Abstract With globalization and the advantages associated with a diverse workforce, many employers in the U.S. are seeking to employee foreign employees now more than ever. However, the human resource management, being regulated by both state and federal laws, strategizing on the recruitment processes for seasonal employees from foreign countries has not been easy for human resource functions of various organizations. This is particularly apparent in the state of South Carolina. Nevertheless, the employment laws in the state provides for requirements that must be fulfilled before an employer can be given a nonimmigrant visa that allows them to be able to recruit employees from foreign countries. Many companies that have complied with such employment laws have been able to obtain employees during seasonal holidays thereby obtaining competitive advantages over other forms in the same industry. Employment Laws and HRM Strategy Introduction Human resource management is one of the fields that are regulated by federal and state employment laws (Senterfitt et al., 2011). Some of the laws and regulations governing the human resource management include recruitment laws, development, placement, and compensation. However, the human resource management is facing in making certain strategic decisions regarding employment. One such is in the recruitment of seasonal employees from foreign countries. This human resource strategic problem is being witnessed in several states including the state of South California. This paper will examine the need for seasonal employees from foreign countries. It will also explore how best the laws of South Carolina State can be applied in solving the problem. Several countries all over the world sometimes fall short of employees during certain months such as during holiday seasons when majority of its workers are taking a break from work. Others require assistance from foreign employees especially for agricultural reasons. All this scenarios offers good employment opportunities for employees from foreign countries who are interested din seasonal employment from foreign countries. A majority of the foreign workers may seek such opportunities for financial reasons while a few seek it as a way of learning or exploring a different culture (Freeman and Parham, 2010). Countries that permit seasonal employment do have laws and regulation that govern the recruitment of such employees. Most of these laws clearly spell out terms of offer such as employments offered on a temporary basis and for specified reason. This means that if the contract is offered for, say two months, then it is expected that the employment will be considered to have ended at the end of the two-month period. In addition, such employees are in most cases required to leave the country upon expiry of the contract. However, some laws do not provide for such. In addition, some countries are reported to limit the number of foreign temporary employees through the quota system so as to ensure that job opportunities that fall vacant mainly goes to the local people (Senterfitt et al., 2011). However, most foreign workers tend to experience many challenges including discrimination at the workplace, payment and benefits problems from the employers once awarded the contracts. This calls for protection from both the federal and state laws. One such protection is provided by “The Migration and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The Act required of terms and condition of employment to every seasonal worker and immigrants in the U.S. to be clearly spelt out by their employers. The terms and condition of employment must be done in writing and delivered upon request. In addition, the Act requires employers to post all relevant information pertaining to worker protection as well as pay the seasonal workers all the salaries and benefits as and when the fall due coupled with a statement indicating all the deductions to that effect (Oden, 2011). The state of South Carolina values the contributions of seasonal workers. It is reported that the state hires a huge number of workers from foreign nations especially during holiday seasons when the workforce is low. In addition, some companies hire foreign workers on a seasonal employment terms when there is need such as expertise in a certain field. As such, the state has enacted certain laws that govern the seasonal workers that help govern employers in their recruitment process (South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, 2011). Basically, there are only two methods by which foreigner may enter the U.S. weather for employment or business purposes. That is, an immigrant visa and nonimmigrant visa. The immigrant visa is that which offers a foreigner a permanent residency in the U.S. commonly known as the ‘greencard.’ Nonimmigrant visas, on the other hand, are issued to foreigners who come in the U.S. for a limited period or temporary basis. The nature of the visas issues are dependent on factors such as qualifications of the alien, the relationship between the foreign employer and the U.S., and the nature of the job,. In this regard, those issued with nonimmigrant visas are only authorized to be employed in the United States for a specified time duration depending on the job, work sites, and the employer. In this regard, the law requires such aliens to leave the country upon completing the work that they were hired to do (South Carolina Statutes, 2012). The law allows all employers in the state of South Carolina who are willing to employ seasonal employees in the country a period of no less than three months, and no more than six months to process nonimmigrant visas. The visas are supposed to be filed by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), DOS (United States Department of State) and United Sates Department of labor (DOL) . Basically, there are over 20 nonimmigrant employment visas that can be issued to seasonal employees from foreign countries one among them being the seasonal or temporary visas (Senterfitt et al., 2011). The seasonal or temporary visas are of two types: the H-2A program issued to agricultural workers and the H-2B program issued to non-agricultural workers. The law clearly spells out the conditions the requirements that must be fulfilled by an employer before these visas can be issued. In the State of South Carolina, for instance, an employer is required to certify that the needs for these visas are purely temporary or seasonal and that the foreign employees would only work in the country beyond one year. This implies that an employer cannot be allowed to employee the foreign employee on a permanent basis. This is commonly referred to as ‘double temporary’ implying that the foreign employee’s intention must be only to come to the U.S on temporary terms, meaning that the employer must also prove that it only needs the foreigner to fill the vacant position temporarily (Senterfitt et al., 2011). Recommend Plan It is clear that the law allows employers within the state to obtain workers from foreign countries, something that employers need to take advantage of since it would help eliminate the problem of labor shortage in the state of South Carolina (Oden, 2011). As such, when there is any need for overseas labor force, it would be imperative of employers to first ensure that the foreign employee whom they are seeking to recruit are eligible for employment in the state as per the law. This would ensure that the employer is not penalized for disobeying the law regarding seasonal employment. Secondly, the employer would need to secure the nonimmigrant visa on behalf of the employee clearly stating the nature of the work that the employee will do, and that the employment is only going to be for a temporal period of not more than one year (Senterfitt et al., 2011). This is because failure to satisfy such a requirement may lead to the denial of the visa, thereby not allowing the employee entry into the country in line with U.S. immigration and working laws. Apart from satisfying the requirements, the employer would have to ensure that the visa applications are processed with the relevant authorities within the stipulated timeframe. This is because failure to meet the requirements of the law would also lead to denial of nonimmigrant visa. Justification for the HR management Strategy Indeed, meeting these requirements will help solve the human resource management problem regarding recruitment of temporary employees from foreign countries. This is because the plan would enable an employer secure the required nonimmigrant visa that would enable it get employees from foreign countries to take up the positions that may fall vacant during seasonal holidays or agricultural workers. For instance, the law clearly spells out that in order to receive a nonimmigrant visa so as to be able to employee a foreigner, employers must meet the requirements of the law failure to which no such privileges are granted. Competitive Advantage through HRM Practices The competitive advantage likely to be realized by meeting the requirements of the employment law is that the employer will get employees and expertise from foreign countries who will keep the companies running when other companies close down for lack of enough labor to continue the operation. This is because those companies that fail to meet the requirement of the employment law would not be granted such an opportunity to hire employees from foreign countries. Keeping the operation of the companies with enough expertise would certainly maintain or improve the profit level or a company during times of labor shortage. What Might Happen if Employment Laws Are Not Abided By Certainly, failure to handle the situation legally would lead to a denial of the right to hire seasonal employees from foreign country. This would mean that either an employer in the state of South Carolina will have to contend with the few locally available employees to continue with the work in the company or close the company altogether, would not be good for any company. Conclusion With the competition in the labor market ever growing higher, employers in many U.S. states are turning to foreign countries for more employees. Nevertheless, complying with the law will be of great benefit to employers who intend to recruit from foreign market during seasonal holidays. This is because it is only by complying with the employment laws that they would be able to secure nonimmigrant visas for seasonal employees from foreign countries. References Freeman, W.B., & Parham, P.A. (2010). Doing business in South Carolina. Columbia, South Carolina, pp.1-93. Oden, P. (2011). Work Visa for Seasonal Workers. Retrieved from http://www.cundyandmartin.com/immigration/work-visas/h-2b.php. Senterfitt, A., Trent, E., Wyche, P.A., & Bakker, M.W. (2011). South Carolina employment law. Law for Change. Pp. 1-28. South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (2011). Retrieved from http://www.llr.state.sc.us/. South Carolina Statutes (2012) Retrieved from, http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/statmast.htm. Read More