Any reasonable person need only imagine what our society would be like without employment law for its importance to become obvious. Better yet, we can just review history. We might not think of it as such, but the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution may have been the first employment law. That legislation, of course, outlawed slavery.
The anti slavery law was designed to fight oppression and exploitation of black people. Since they made up the overwhelming majority of slaves, laws against owning someone and forcing them to work for you also struck a blow against discrimination.
Many employment laws are designed to work against one or more of the three plagues on society, mentioned above: oppression, exploitation, and discrimination. We know that no amendment, statute, law or regulation in itself can solve every problem. On the other hand, we need to start somewhere and employment laws have often served their purpose well.
Today, thankfully, slavery is part of History. That does not mean that oppression ended there or that the government would never again need to step in to make sure cruelty and coercion weren't used to keep people in line. The idea of actually owning another human being had been shot down, but that didn't stop greedy mine owners and others from finding other ways to keep their workers under their thumbs. One example of this was the use of company stores in which necessary items were priced so high that a worker would run up debts he could never pay. Since he couldn't leave until the debt was paid it was, in effect, a sort of bonded servitude; if not actual slavery.
Employment law has often been an effective force against exploitation. It was law, not the natural goodness of factory, farm and other business owners that was needed to establish reasonable child labour laws. The laws which provide for overtime and extra holiday pay also serve to fight exploitation, though we may not realize they are doing so. If you have ever gotten overtime at a time when you needed it you were probably very thankful. However, the reason businesses are required to pay overtime rates is so the employer is better off hiring new people and, therefore, less people are required to work hours that endanger health, interfere with family obligations and generally affect, negatively, the quality of life.
Many people think of employment law, primarily, as a force against discrimination. In this role it is a positive force, not just for the people it protects, but for our society as a whole. The laws that disallow discrimination because of race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability help assure the principle that all are created equal isn't abandoned in our society. Regardless of what we may think about someone we can't prevent them from earning a living because they represent a group we don't like.
Other laws that regulate labour aren't so easy to fit into one of the three categories mentioned. It does not mean, however, that they don't serve a purpose. The requirement that businesses provide for worker's compensation helps to assure safety nets for employees injured on the job. Unemployment compensation provides assistance to people who have lost a job through no fault of their own. In both cases provisions exist to prevent employees from defrauding employers. Minimum wage laws give entry level and unskilled labourers a helping hand in meeting the financial challenges of everyday living.
Employment law may appear, primarily, to protect employees. This is not entirely true, employers have protection in law as well. However, employment law does protect workers who need to provide the necessities of life for themselves and their loved ones. This protection is needed as a defence against human failings like greed and prejudice when those are possessed by the business owners who can offer the means by which people can meet those needs.
The anti slavery law was designed to fight oppression and exploitation of black people. Since they made up the overwhelming majority of slaves, laws against owning someone and forcing them to work for you also struck a blow against discrimination.
Many employment laws are designed to work against one or more of the three plagues on society, mentioned above: oppression, exploitation, and discrimination. We know that no amendment, statute, law or regulation in itself can solve every problem. On the other hand, we need to start somewhere and employment laws have often served their purpose well.
Today, thankfully, slavery is part of History. That does not mean that oppression ended there or that the government would never again need to step in to make sure cruelty and coercion weren't used to keep people in line. The idea of actually owning another human being had been shot down, but that didn't stop greedy mine owners and others from finding other ways to keep their workers under their thumbs. One example of this was the use of company stores in which necessary items were priced so high that a worker would run up debts he could never pay. Since he couldn't leave until the debt was paid it was, in effect, a sort of bonded servitude; if not actual slavery.
Employment law has often been an effective force against exploitation. It was law, not the natural goodness of factory, farm and other business owners that was needed to establish reasonable child labour laws. The laws which provide for overtime and extra holiday pay also serve to fight exploitation, though we may not realize they are doing so. If you have ever gotten overtime at a time when you needed it you were probably very thankful. However, the reason businesses are required to pay overtime rates is so the employer is better off hiring new people and, therefore, less people are required to work hours that endanger health, interfere with family obligations and generally affect, negatively, the quality of life.
Many people think of employment law, primarily, as a force against discrimination. In this role it is a positive force, not just for the people it protects, but for our society as a whole. The laws that disallow discrimination because of race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability help assure the principle that all are created equal isn't abandoned in our society. Regardless of what we may think about someone we can't prevent them from earning a living because they represent a group we don't like.
Other laws that regulate labour aren't so easy to fit into one of the three categories mentioned. It does not mean, however, that they don't serve a purpose. The requirement that businesses provide for worker's compensation helps to assure safety nets for employees injured on the job. Unemployment compensation provides assistance to people who have lost a job through no fault of their own. In both cases provisions exist to prevent employees from defrauding employers. Minimum wage laws give entry level and unskilled labourers a helping hand in meeting the financial challenges of everyday living.
Employment law may appear, primarily, to protect employees. This is not entirely true, employers have protection in law as well. However, employment law does protect workers who need to provide the necessities of life for themselves and their loved ones. This protection is needed as a defence against human failings like greed and prejudice when those are possessed by the business owners who can offer the means by which people can meet those needs.