The Industrial Revolution has brought radical changes in the working place. This historical phenomenon swept much of the world, especially Europe where it started and the Americas. One radical change it brought to the working place is the deterioration of working conditions as the number of workers or employees rose meteorically. In this regard, the government would need to pass laws protecting the rights of workers. These protective laws paved the way for the creation of modern employment law in the United States.
What is Employment Law?
The Employment Law protects employees or workers from any kind of mistreatment on the workplace. The poor working conditions that resulted from Industrial Revolution led to the creation of laws establishing fair wages, limiting the number of working hours in a week and prohibiting child labor. Other labor related laws also include laws regulating the cleanliness of the workplace, protection of employees from any kind of hazardous accidents.
Employment Laws have been passed standardizing the provision of benefits by the employers for the employees. Employment Law includes health insurance that benefits workers if medical problems arise due to poor work condition or unsanitary workplace. In addition, Employment Law also covers protection against discrimination in the workplace based on religion, race, gender and other factors.
Let us focus more on employment discrimination laws that protect employees from discrimination in the workplace. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces several employment discrimination laws that protect employees from compensation discrimination. One of these laws is the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The passage of this law is milestone in labor history as it ensures that there shall be no wage discrimination based on sex in the workplace.
The Equal Pay Act
As stated above, this law requires that no wage discrimination shall take place based on gender. This law requires that men and women be given equal wage for the same work rendered in the same workplace. The jobs need not to be the same, but they must be essentially equal.
Further, the EPA states that it is not the job titles that matter in determining whether jobs are substantially equal but the job content. Men and women alike are protected by EPA as it prohibits unequal wages to both genders that perform a job that requires substantially equal amount of work, skill and responsibility in the same workplace and same working conditions. Pay differentials are only allowed when they are based on merit, seniority, quantity or quality of production or other factors than gender.
Employees expect that their employers will adhere to the Employment Laws discussed above. Moreover, basic standards of fairness in terms of employment decisions shall be observed in the workplace, like equal page for equal job for both sexes. Sometimes, however, these labor laws are not adhered to by employers. If you are a victim of unfair labor practice, do not hesitate to fight for your rights. An experienced civil rights lawyer or employment lawyer might help you build a strong case against your abusive employer.
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