Labor
What are Labor Laws?
Also known as employment law, labor laws are a body of laws, rulings and precedents which go over the legal rights and obligations of employees and the employers that provide them wages for their work. Since the relationship between an employee and an employer can usually be extremely temperamental, labor laws have been established to mediate the relations between the two. Parties involved within labor law are employees, employers and trade unions.
What are Trade Unions?
In labor law, a trade union is an organization made up of workers of an organization or several organizations in the same field who have banded together to achieve a common goal. Their main focus is to establish safe working conditions within an organization and fair treatment of the workers. Trade unions usually negotiate with employers on behalf of the members so that their labor contracts are fair in all aspects, such as wages, rules and regulations, hiring procedures, firing procedures, benefits, and the safety of the workers in the work environment. Labor unions gain their power through the number of workers that are members. They can organize strikes in the company if their needs and demands are not met, they can perform collective bargaining and other political activity.
History of Labor Laws:
Labor laws were the result of workers demanding better conditions, better treatment from they’re employers, and the right to organize. It was also a way for workers to protect themselves and they’re well-being. As a result of labor laws, employer’s costs may increase because of employees demanding higher wages or by strict labor laws set in place for minimum wages. The trade unions, under labor law have gained a considerable amount of political power as well. That being said, labor law is the direct result of the struggles between interests of both the employee and the employer, as well as larger issues of society.
Contract of Employment:
In almost all countries around the world, the terms of the employee and the employer under labor law is outlined within the contract of employment. All of the obligations, what is expected of the employee and the employer are covered and mediated within it. Many of the terms and conditions in the contract are implied through common law and restrict employees from being able to agree to unfair terms in exchange for the job.
Minimum Wage:
Labor law usually states a wage in which an employer must agree to pay an worker at the bare minimum, and cannot go any lower than that wage for any reason. Countries that have minimum wage labor laws are Australia, Canada, China, Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States. The minimum wage is usually determined from the laws of supply and demand and acts as a price floor.
Time of Work:
Before the times of the Industrial Revolution, it was commonplace for work days to last fourteen hours. When machines started to take over factory lines, the work days, in fact, rose to about fifteen. The eight hour movement soon began to receive momentum, and the standard work day was shortened.