What protects workers from unfair treatment by their employers?
Employees of all types of companies can suffer whether at the local level or not because of gender discrimination, unhealthy working environment, wage exploitation and etc. at the hands of the bad bosses. Yet, the phenomenon of labor laws and regulations, which are in the place to protect the employees, should not be overlooked.
Anti-Discrimination Laws
Federal and state governments make it unlawful for jobs to be advertised with the words like race, gender, faith, age, and disability being a protected characteristics, which means they cannot be discriminated against. A necessarily case in point being Civil Rights Act which bans employment discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Discrimination effects on Employees is reported to the EEOC which asks for investigation.
Also read: What an employment lawyer can do for you
Minimum wage and overtime pay.
As per the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most employers need to pay their employees a specified minimum hourly rate and premium wages to the staff entitled to overtime pay. These laws guarantee employees to receive just pay and they are against profit misappropriation. For instance, when employers break the wage and hour laws, employees can go to court or to the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division help desk to claim back their monies.
Workplace Safety Standards
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency that monitors the welfare of employees and enacts rules and standards to prevent hazards from occurring to workers. Employers are required to institute and uphold safe working environments, document work-related injuries, and help employees acquire safety training. Companies' employees can inform OSHA about any potential dangers at the job site; its inspectors will then review the case.
Labor Union Protections
The National Labor Relations Act is their corporative law that protects the rights of most private sector employees to form or join unions. Unions can allow any union workers to collectively bargain on demand with employers over better salaries, benefits and working conditions. Workers cannot be fired or intimidated by employers for organizing for unionization or engaging in other organized actions that are focused on the improvement of their working conditions.
Whistleblower Protections
In laws that deal with retaliation, the term whistleblowers is used in defining those people who report any illegal activities or violations of laws and regulations. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Act has laws that prime the ones who raise safety concerns and handle them as the whistleblowers.
The understanding of these working environment safeguards enable staff for airing their grievances. Nevertheless, more reforms may be required to strengthen protections and guarantee no one becomes victim to exploitation and abusive treatment for all those struggling to make it.