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#Employment Law and Compliance - organization, levels, definition, type, company, workplace, business, Major federal laws

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Employment law and compliance concerns the legal framework within which organizations must operate in their treatment of employees. Employers must comply with a myriad of federal and state laws and regulations. Laws and regulations exist covering a wide range of human resource practices, including recruiting, hiring, performance appraisal, compensation, health and safety, and labor relations.

The discussion that follows identifies and summarizes the major federal laws that comprise employment law.

MAJOR FEDERAL LAWS

Exhibit 1 provides a summary of some of the more important federal employment laws. The exhibit is divided into four sections: anti-discrimination law, compensation law, health and safety law, and labor relations law. The sections that follow provide additional information on each of these areas, with special emphasis on anti-discrimination laws, which probably have the greatest impact on employers.

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS

TITLE VII.

Without a doubt, the most important anti-discrimination law is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII was initially motivated by the U.S. government s desire to end workplace discrimination against African Americans, which was brought to national attention by the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. However, by the time the law was passed and signed into law in 1964, it had become a comprehensive workplace anti-discrimination law.

Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex. Affected organizations must not discrimination in any employment decision or in regard to any term or condition of employment. Title VII applies to all U.S. organizations with fifteen or more employees, as well as labor unions and public sector employers. Only a few U.S. employers with more than fifteen employees are exempt from Title VII.

Title VII was amended in 1972 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. This law strengthened the enforcement of Title VII, which up to that time had been largely ineffective in changing workplace practices. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a quasi-independent federal government agency, is in charge of enforcing Title VII, as well as many other anti-discrimination laws.

Exhibit 1

Sampling of Major Federal Employment Laws