Introduction
The following study is devoted to the central elements of the employment law. It is the main aspect regulating relations between employees and employers and determining the nature of this cooperation. For this reason, such concepts as retaliation, discrimination, and employment relationships will be discussed to highlight the most important issues that might emerge in workplaces and can be solved by applying the existing regulations and laws. The presentation covers these issues and concludes with their role in modern organizations.
Employment Law
The employment law is a fundamental set of rules regulating relations between employers and employees and guaranteeing that all actors will be protected and benefit from this cooperation. For this reason, it touches upon the essential aspects of this cooperation and creates the legal framework crucial for the stable functioning of firms and organizations today.
Roles of Employees and Employers
The functioning of modern organizations and companies presupposes that both employees and employers perform roles outlined in the employment law and are critical for the development of a unit. Thus, employees have to fulfill all the duties and responsibilities mentioned in the job description as it is their major duty; otherwise, they can be fired. Moreover, they have to meet the outlined performance standards, which is a key to further development. These two roles are fundamental for employment relations.
Another role of an employee is to ensure that his/her level of awareness is high enough to meet the existing standards and contribute to the achievement of current goals. For this reason, they should act as main contributors to the evolution of a company and engage in education and training programs needed to enhance their skills. On the other hand, employers also have some critically important roles. First of all, they are responsible for the creation of safe workplaces that promote the workers’ professional and personal growth and do not damage their wellbeing.
Employers should also be ready to accept the main responsibility for observing the employment law. It presupposes that they should provide workers with wages and rewards meeting the existing standards and regulations as it is the key to the increased motivation and performance levels. Moreover, they should monitor relations within the collective and avoid discrimination and harassment that might deteriorate relations and precondition the firm’s decline.
Employment Discrimination
The employment law is also designed to guarantee equal opportunities for all workers regardless of their peculiarities. However, there are still multiple cases of employment discrimination, presupposing that employers might have biased attitudes toward employees based on race, gender, religion, physical or mental abilities, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. There are multiple punishments and attempts to eliminate these patterns; however, there are still numerous cases that emerge every year. For this reason, employment discrimination becomes a serious issue today that should be given much attention.
The amendments to existing laws and regulations, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, prohibit employers from practicing unfair practices and are designed to guarantee that no discrimination is observed in the workplace. However, the reduction in the number of discrimination complaints does not attain the desired level as there are still numerous cases of biased attitudes to workers because of their sex or race. For this reason, any firm should be focused on the creation of tolerant employment practices.
Under these conditions, business owners and CEOs become responsible for struggling with discrimination and creating a tolerant environment. The existing research shows that companies with fair recruiting practices and equal career opportunities demonstrate better performance and achieve more significant goals due to the focus on inclusion and diversity (Friedman, 2020). Under these conditions, the resolution of the problem of discrimination is a central element in the work of modern companies and organizations.
Types of Employment Discrimination
There are several forms of employment discrimination that are the most topical today. The most frequent is racial discrimination, presupposing that a representative of a particular race can be deprived of equal opportunities and suffer from a biased attitude. Moreover, people with some features, such as skin color, or hair texture, can also suffer from it. Second, discrimination based on national origin remains a nagging problem as it is observed in many companies or organizations from different spheres.
Sex and religious discrimination are other two forms of biased attitudes toward workers not acceptable in accordance with the existing laws. These forms presuppose an unfair attitude toward individuals because of their sex or religious beliefs, which violates human rights and contributes to the creation of a dangerous precedent that might cause a collapse of the organization.
Finally, sexual orientation and political discrimination are two other forms that should be mentioned because of their role in the modern business environment. The freedom to choose a partner is one of the human rights; however, there are still some biased attitudes to homosexual individuals leading to the emergence of discriminative patterns. Speaking about discrimination based on the political views of a person, it infringes the major rights and should be viewed as a dangerous phenomenon that should be eliminated today.
Retaliation
Retaliation presupposes some punishment for legal activities performed by individuals for different purposes. Regarding the employment sphere, it occurs in relations between employee and employer and might involve various actions. However, it is prohibited as retaliation might trigger the development of harassment and poor cooperation. Workers can also report illegal intentions and prove retaliation. In such a way, Unlawful retaliation is a dangerous phenomenon that might decrease the effectiveness of a company and precondition poor outcomes.
In most cases, retaliation might acquire hidden forms presupposing the use of various levers available to employers to deteriorate the position of an employee and punish him/her for performing some undesired but legally protected actions. The retaliation forms might include firing, demotions, reduction in payments, and transfers. For this reason, managers and business owners have several tools to punish a worker, meaning that it remains a serious problem that should be given attention.
However, it is vital to mention that retaliation is not always unlawful. The employer can punish a worker if the aspects of the job description are not followed. In other cases, all cases of unfair attitudes should be reported to avoid the further deterioration of relations within the collective and guarantee that people benefit from a positive climate and do not face biased judgments.
Conclusion
Altogether, employment law is a set of rules describing relations between employees and employers and needed to ensure their beneficial and fair cooperation. Unfortunately, there are some cases of discrimination and retaliation that should be viewed as dangerous phenomena and eliminated by using available reporting mechanisms and tools. Only under these conditions, a tolerant environment can be established.
References
Friedman, J. (2020). Examples & explanations for employment discrimination (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Rassas, L. (2020). Employment law: A guide to hiring, managing, and firing for employers and employees (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.