Labor Laws
The United States Department of Labor has been in effect for over a century, under a different name and without all the authority it has today. In 1913, it came to be what it is today and became part of the Cabinet.
It was created to protect and develop the welfare of the retirees, wage earners, and job seekers of the US. The department helped set up many employment laws that have over time improved working conditions, raised minimum wage salaries, assured worker benefits and advanced opportunities in profitable employment. Many labor laws exist that are enforced to make sure employers follow them to achieve all these improvements.
Employment laws are created to guarantee workers a better job environment and to assure that they are treated equally and fairly. Still today, there are areas where these laws are not obeyed causing the employers or employees that violate them to be discharged and or sued in court. There are labor laws designed to protect employees from harassment and discrimination. These laws protect the employees in the workplace so even if it’s not the company owners that are acting inappropriately, but even other colleagues, they are subject to these laws as well. As far as employers, they have to abide by anti-discrimination laws. This prevents employers from treating workers differently, turning down possible recruits, firing existing employees, fringe benefits, prevent them from using certain facilities, etc… because of their sex, race, color, or creed. This is one of the most important and strongly enforced employment laws in the United States today. This opens the door for equal opportunity for jobs for different applicants as long as they are qualified to do so. However, there are also employment laws that prevent employers from hiring people not authorized to do so. These labor laws fall under the category of Immigration and Naturalization. People residing in the U.S. that are said to be ‘illegal aliens’ due to their status in this country, are not allowed to work there. There are labor laws that have certain limits and restrictions on employment for alien residents. These laws allow certain residents with work or student visas, or employment authorization by the government to work legally in the United States for a specified period of time. Aside with these labor laws, the U.S. Department of Labor has also set laws that deal with work hours, safety & health in the workplace, youth labor, benefits, and workers’ compensation. There are many more categories they affect, these are just some examples of the ones widely discussed. The benefit that employment laws have on the improvement of work conditions in the country have been extremely important. Labor laws will continue to improve the lives of employees and lower the abuse that was once at a high rate from employers