Employment Laws Issues - Assignment Example

Running head: Employment Laws Employment Laws Number: Due: Employment Laws Introduction Employment laws are the regulations that are put in place to protect the rights of workers (Bishara 2012). They are specifically put in place to protect employees from any form of mistreatment by their employers. These forms of laws are important to any country that aims to protect her citizens. However, different countries have their own laws that aim at protecting employees, but the employment law should address the following problems: When employees are overworked, if the employees are placed in the unhealthy and dangerous environment, are rendered unable to work because of an infection and thus are not given appropriate compensation (Fitzpatrick, Perine, Dulton, & Floyd 2011). Question 1 Firing of someone from a job or workplace is normal (Melvin 2011). But however, there are times when one can be fired illegally. It is of great importance to know if the termination is legal or illegal. By most employment being “at will” implies that an employee might be terminated at any time for a good reason or no reason at all. However, there are different scenarios that are exempted from the at-will rule that might help an employee to sue their employer for wrongful termination (Nolo 2011). Written Contract If Neil had a written promise to their employer or other statements that are able to promise their job security, then they have strong evidence that they are not "at-will" employees. This is a clear show that one can enforce those promises in court. The law therefore assumes that one is legally employed unless the written documents or verbal agreement with the employer at the time of hire state otherwise on the ground that they might be dismissed illegally. Implied Promises This is an agreement based on what the employer promises and did against. This is an exception to the at-will rule (Peter 2012). In addition, employers might promise “permanent employment” or employment to the employee for a certain period of time and this should be followed and hence in case the contract is violated one can sue their employers. In order for the court to decide whether the a contract employment was breached, it looks at a number of points: The length of time at which one has been Neil has been employed in the security company, the history of good performance reviews, whether the Dave violated the normal employment practice in firing Neil such as avoiding to give Neil a warning, and or whether the security company had given Neil promise of long term employment. Unfair Actions by an Employer If Dave acted unfairly by dismissing Neil, then Neil must have a claim of an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. The court however, has the responsibility to determine whether Dave breached the duty of good faith. Some courts in different countries moreover do not recognize the “unfair actions” exception to be applied to the "at-will" employment. Thus some states require the existence of a valid employment contract and Neil should be in possession of the same before suing the security company (Turner 2011). Retaliation Neil is entitled to sue the security company sine the case they are involved in is legal and they were out for safe someone’s life. Thus this was a legally protected activity and Neil would not have avoided it. If the security company decides to fire Neil then it is a breach of the same. Question 2 Dear Sir/Madam, Re: Application for flexible working I wish to write to your office for a request to allow me work in flexible times so that I would have time to spend with my new born baby. This is in reference to section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Greenberg & Landry 2011). Therefore as the company’s employee I too have the responsibility of taking care of my younger child who is 6 months old. This can only be possible if the office can allow me to work at flexible times. In specific, I would wish to work in the morning only per week. This however does not imply that I am not fully committed to my teaching assistant role in the school (Yaqub 2008). In addition, the request for flexible working times gives the school the advantage of retaining my skills, expertise and full commitment as the office recognizes my need for reasonable working time as I take the responsibility of my family kid. It is with my full knowledge that my request for flexible working is reasonable and the office can be in a position to offer me the chance. According to the constitution, refusal of my request would be regarded being against the law. The law regards this as an indirect form of discrimination against women as most of the people who take care of the children are women. However, this does not imply that the two of us cannot reach to a conclusion regarding this matter. I look forward towards your positive response or the office is able to discuss my proposal within 28 days of receiving my application. Thank you in advance. Yours sincerely, Marriane. Case Study Employee Request for Flexible Working With a clearer understanding of the working flexible scenario, the use of the case study would be appropriate. Consider a case where Mary owns a software company. The boss has seven members of staff that work in full time in the office. However, she is in charge of the sales and marketing while most of the technical work is left to her employees. The business has grown in a fast way and Mary believes that she has been successful in managing the employee matters through the various online resources (Peter 2012). However, one of her employees had taken a leave to assist their father attend the hospital appointments. The father who is suffering from osteoporosis is finding it more difficult to survive at home alone without the care of someone. With an agreement with his wife, the employee has decided with the wife that the father would move in to stay with them in the coming days. The employee’s wife who works part time would be taking care of the father when she is not attending job and Mary’s employee too wants to take a leave so that he would take care of the father when the wife is not around. Thus the employee has submitted a letter to Mary to inform her about the same and if she would allow him to work at flexible times (Peter 2012). However, Mary is worried about what to do as it would be hard to allow the employee to work part time as she fears she might lose more of the working hours and it would not be possible to have a new employee to work part time to cover for the last time. Mary knows it clear that in case she does not give in on the employee’s request, she is risking losing him plus their skills as the employees’ sons are all well off with good businesses. Comment He continues to give a comment dating 6th April 2007, he asserts employees that were in service for a period of not less than 26 weeks had the right to request for flexible work in order to take care of their family members who were either sick, or the ones that were living with them. This was in regard to the Flexible Working that included their eligibility, Complaints and Remedies Amendment Regulations of 2006. These rights formally applied to parents. However, in order for Mary to reply to the employee’s request, she has to check if the request complies with the employees duties as set out in the Regulations. However, the employee must state in their letter what consequences their work flexibility would have to the business and how they would be able to recover for the same. If the employee does not do the same, Mary has the right to ask the employee to do as the Regulations require and resubmit the request a fresh. This is a nice move as it will give the employer to consider the problems their proposal would cause Mary’s business. The employee would be forced to give other proposals that include working from home, or varying their working hours (Peter 2012). The employee needs to submit their request in the required form as Mary gives it the required consideration. Both parties must arrange to meet within 28 days from the submission of the request. If the parties do not agree then Mary’s decision should fall into one of the following: Burden of additional costs, the problem the employee might cause to the business in regard to meeting customer demands, the inability of Mary to reorganize the remaining tasks among the existing employees, the impact the employee’s work flexibility would have on the quality of the products produced by the business, and the business performance after the employee decides to work on flexible terms (Yaqub 2008). This implies that Mary should inform the employee in writing if she refuses the employee’s request and that the employee has the right to appeal. This is a clear indication that Mary would be facing similar problems in future as the business is growing, and thus the business should be able to consider promoting work flexibility once they advertise for new staff. In conclusion, any working environment therefore, the employment laws are very important as they give guidelines of what the employee and the employer are expected to make for the smooth running of the business. References Bishara, N.D. ( 2012), The Law and Ethics of Restrictions on an Employees Post-Employment Mobility, American Business Law Journal, 49, p. 1, LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 March 2012. Fitzpatrick, J., Perine, J., Dutton, B., & Floyd, K. ( 2011), State labor legislation enacted in 2010, Monthly Labor Review, 134, 1, pp. 3-37, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 March 2012. Greenberg, D., & Landry, E. ( 2011), Negotiating a flexible work arrangement: How women navigate the influence of power and organizational context, Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 32, 8, p. 1163, EDS Foundation Index, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 March 2012. Melvin, H. M. (2011), Labor and Employment Law, Mercer Law Review, 63, p. 197, LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 March 2012. Nolo, (2012), “Wrongful Termination: Was Your Firing Illegal?” Viewed 19 March 2012. Url: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/wrongful-termination-was-firing-illegal-32282.html. Peter, E. (2012), “Employment Case Studies: Employment Law Services”. Viewed 19 March 2012. Url: http://www.etherington.co.uk/cases.shtml#4 Turner, R. (2011), Employment Law, SMU Law Review, 64, p. 221, LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 March 2012. Yaqub, L. ( 2008), Managing flexible working arrangements effectively, Chartered Accountants Journal, 87, 6, pp. 68-70, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 19 March 2012. Read More