HUMAN RESOURCES LAWS
The Human Resources is defined as the people that
staff and operate an organization, the organizational function that deals with
the people, it evolved beyond paying employees and managing employee benefits,
it become in the most important resource of organization (About.com, 2012) .
Human resources are covered by a network of federal
and state laws, among which the most important one of this, are collected as
Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, and its amended of 1972 (Equal
Employment Opportunity Act).
Title
VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act.
Title VII states that an employer cannot discriminate
based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, as explain Dessler (2005) that is unlawful to fail or
refuse to hire or to discharge an individual or otherwise to discriminate
against any individual with respect to his/her compensation, terms, conditions,
or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion,
sex or national origin; also specified under the same terms that it is unlawful
to limit, segregate, or classify employees or applicants for employment in any
way that would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his/her status as an employee. (Dessler, 2005) .
There are three exceptions under Title VII of Civil
Right Act, which are not considered illegal employment practice (Mondy, 2012) :
1)
Bona
fide occupational qualification (BFOQs reasonably necessary to the normal
operation of the particular business or enterprise).
2)
Bona
fide seniority system (differences in employment conditions among worker are
permitted).
3)
Testing
and educational requirements ( it is accepted is the results is not designed,
intended, or used to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin).
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 amended the 1964 law, but
not replace it, was created with the intention of strengthen the previous law,
notably in the area of employer liability and burden of proof (Advameg, Inc,
2012) ,
and it had the fallowing purposes: Provide appropriate remedies for
international discrimination and unlawful harassment in the workplace, codify
the concepts of business necessity and job-related pronounced by the Supreme
Court in Griggs v Duke Power Co, confirm statutory authority and provide
statutory guidelines for the adjudication of disparate impacts under Title VII
of the CRA of 1964, and respond to decisions of the Supreme Court by expanding
the scope of relevant civil right statutes in order to provide adequate
protection to victims of discrimination (Mondy, 2012) .
Equal
Pay Act of 1963, Amended in 1972
This law and its amended, state that is unlawful to
discriminate in pay on the basis of sex when the jobs involves equal work (Dessler, 2005) , prohibit an
employer from paying an employee of one gender less money than an employee of
the opposite gender (Mondy, 2012)
if both work require equivalent skills, endeavor, and responsibility, and are
performed under similar conditions.
Pregnancy
Discrimination Act of 1978 (amendment to Title VII)
To amend Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 to prohibit sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy (USA.Gov, 1978) this law prohibit use pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical
conditions to discriminate in hiring, promotion, suspension, or discharge, or
any term or condition of employment (Dessler, 2005) , and as points Wondy (2012) question regarding
a woman’s family and childbearing plans should not be asked, also should not be
ask question relating family plans, birth control techniques because are not
asked to men, and may be viewed as discriminatory. (Mondy, 2012) .
Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)
FMLA applies to private employers with 50 or more
employees and to all governmental employers regardless of number (Mondy, 2012) , it provides certain
employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave per year, and
maintained their group health benefits during the leave. (U.S
Department of Labor) . The right applies only to employees
who have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and who have at least
1,250 hours of service during the 12 months immediately preceding the start of
the leave (Mondy, 2012) .
Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938
It is the most significant law affecting compensation;
its purpose is to establish minimum labor standards on a national basis and to
eliminate low wages and long working hours (Mondy, 2012) .
It affects most private and public employment, requires employers to pay
covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum
wage and overtime pay of one and one half times the regular rate of pay (U.S Department of Labor) , also restrict the
hours that children under age 16 can work and forbids the employment of
children under 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous.
CONCLUSION
The human resources is one of the most difficult tasks
for owners of small and large companies, recruitment issues and job security
wages, discrimination and dismissal of employees, the above information is only
a small part of intricate federal, state and local laws governing labor law and
other aspects of human resource management, including laws governing the hiring
and firing, wages and benefits, discrimination and harassment, safety at work,
workplace privacy, and more.
Bibliography
About.com. (2012). About.com
Human resources. Retrieved from definition of Human resources:
http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/what_hr.htm
Advameg, Inc.
(2012). referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved from Encyclopedia of
Business. Civil Rigth Act of 1991:
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Ca-Clo/Civil-Rights-Act-of-1991.html#b
Dessler, G.
(2005). Human Resiurces Management. USA: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Mondy, R. (2012).
HUman Resources Manangement. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
U.S Department of
Labor. (n.d.). United States Department of Labor. Retrieved from
Family & Medical Leave:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm
USA.Gov. (1978,
Oct 18). U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/pregnancy.cfm
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