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

Laws in Our Pop Culture

Laws, when we hear that term what do we think about? Walking through a busy city street hearing people mention the term ‘law’ or ‘laws’, you could imagine a bunch of different things. If you’re a housewife the first thing that may pop into mind is the show Law and Order, if you’re a teenage girl you may let out a sigh over the name Jude Law, or if you’re the general public you will either picture a lawyer with his tie undone or a police officer in his car. The truth is, all of these in one way or another pertain to law, well of course minus Jude Law, sorry girls.

Law has branched out into many different aspects of life including entertainment and business. By definition, law is a set of rules that are enforced through a set of institutions. Since there are hundreds and thousands of laws, some sort of organization is needed to better familiarize ourselves. This is why they are divided into categories such as criminal law, business law, constitutional law, international law, administrative law, etc.. Laws are what protect a person, group, company, or nation from harm or wrongdoing, and provide guidelines for which things are conducted. Law has always been in the minds of young children envisioning themselves as police officers when they’re all grown up. Lately, law has made itself into the entertainment world various different television programs. The most obvious and widely known shows involving law are the daytime court shows. The ones with the judge that is now known as a “celebrity judge” and the audience in the background there to see the outcome of the trial. Contestants, or rather, the plaintiff and defendant, choose to have their case tried on one of these shows in a speedy trial. Of course it’s entertaining to watch the judge belittle the offenders, and make their ruling, but at the same time people are educated. They learn about proceedings and some laws they were perhaps unaware of, should they ever find themselves or someone they know in a similar situation. Shows like this bring laws to life, and it is a fun and entertaining way for the public to learn something, whether they know it or not, while watching television. Some adults don’t realize it is almost the same concept as putting a child in front of TV watching Sesame Street, just different in content and of course for adults. But this is not the only type of show that has spread the word of law throughout America in recent years. Law and Order is one, if not the most widely watched law show. The things is, it’s not even just one show. The fan base for the original grew so large, that they have branched out into different sub shows pertaining to specialty cases. For example there is one titled Criminal Intent and another Special Victims Unit. The show itself also bases its episodes on recent cases in the news, to give a closer look at what it takes to not only catch a criminal but to prosecute them in court. These shows give the American public a better understanding of the legal system, its laws, and how they pertain to criminals in this case. They also inform why sometimes certain loopholes can cause a mistrial, or a criminal to be found innocent.

This insight into the world of law can provide the general public with a better understanding of how our legal system is ran and conducted. With the addition of other shows like these, people will be able to learn much more about laws and cases while enjoying it.

Laws for Business

Laws for businesses continue to evolve every year. With new technology available, this makes it even easier for a law to be passed as guidance to protect companies and their employees. They must control not only what the company is doing as a whole, or the customers they deal with, but also what their employees are doing. Most actions need to be monitored, with a sense of protecting privacy of course, to provide companies with productivity reports. Sometimes, it also helps to let companies know what the employees are also up to if they are doing something wrong.

Laws for businesses say where cameras can be posted to give security to a company of who is coming in and out of their building, or to see what employees are up to. This is just an example of where laws for businesses reach, there are other fields. For instance, laws for business control how a company conducts its transactions legally and what they are entitled to. These laws can vary in many different aspects of business, that is why it’s hard to keep track of all of them. Most large corporations have hired law firms to help them better understand all the laws for business out there, including updating them on new ones being passed. It is enough work to run a company being aware of so much information, imagine adding laws for business as part of the knowledge base. Now of course business owners have a general idea of these laws, and the most basic and important ones. However, with the growing changes in our society, technology, and what is seen as the ’norm’ new laws for businesses are created all the time, and old ones are changed to be more current with the times. One of the most recent advances that came to businesses in the past few years is the availability of wireless networks. This was seen as a great improvement to the way computers are linked and how information is exchanged making it a lot easier for companies to communicate not only with their clients but with other companies. With such an open network though, it was only a matter of time before hackers and viruses made their way into their systems though. Let’s face it, if the company is a financial institution that is holding people’s money and personal information, that can be disastrous. This is where states stepped in and placed a new business law for the companies to protect themselves, and in essence, protect their residents. In 2006, New York State passed a law that required all businesses that offered public internet access, and ones that carry out their business over wireless networks, to a network security measure to their computers, such as a firewall. Laws for businesses such as these, help improve the protection of many different people, and the quality of business itself. With changing times, business owners should definitely make themselves aware of new laws passed, and to assure themselves to abide by them.

Business Laws

Business law courses were often overlooked in high school, or college. They were just seen as something a person had to enroll in to gain the credit, just like any other class where they’d say “ When will I ever use business laws in my life?” And sure, there were plenty of classes that were deemed useless later on in life, but this one was perhaps not one of them. Little do people know how involved we are with business laws whether you own a business or not. Business law touches people directly and indirectly, from franchise and private business owners, to the people that come into the door, or people that purchase something online from a vendor, etc.. It’s not an education required strictly for attorneys that represent and defend businesses, in fact it’s pretty much for almost anyone.

Business laws are set for businesses to follow a set of guidelines through which to conduct their business, and do so in an orderly fashion, while being just and fair to its clients and customers. In recent years more laws have been created or amended to make all commercial transactions flow a lot smoother.

For a franchise or private business owner, business laws are what binds them to follow certain rules, and at the same time protects them from harm. These types of businesses must know how to follow all state and federal guidelines for hiring employees, paying their salary, and things such as the amount of breaks they are entitled to. Most of these things will benefit employees and their rights to create a better and safer work environment for them, and prevent any boss from taking advantage of their skills and productivity. When opening a business it is a good idea to get acquainted with all the laws that are required of your business, for example, some towns and cities have certain laws about hours of operation depending on the type of business you own. Along with these, the fire department usually has a set number of people that could be in your business at a given time, again depending on the type of business. Some may read this and think that these are not ‘business laws’ but rather ordinances, regardless they fall under the same category. So we know a little bit of how business laws can keep a business owner in check, or protect the employees; now it’s time to look at how they affect the clients and customers. As a customer entering a place of business, you are entitled to a certain type of service and respect, regardless of the type of business. Under certain business laws, the employees there and/or owner are bound to provide you with what you came there for and must respectfully follow these regulations. There are laws protecting you as the client, from theft, deception, harassment, etc… These are all things that are usually taken for granted or overlooked by a customer. These business laws pertain to transactions done over the internet with companies on web sites, and they can also be reported, fined, or even sued if they fail to follow them. As you can see, before you open a business or if you feel you have been wronged by one, it is good to gain some knowledge in business law to better your understanding of your entitlement.