Employee ights / Safety
Employee ights and Safety: A Case Study

The individual in question is now out of a job, due mainly to circumstances that were out of her control. Yes, it is imperative for an organization to punish those who break its policies. Yet, where is the evidence in this case that point to the individual in question? Although the organization she worked for had the right to take action against the employee who had brought the drugs into the facility, its mass layoffs and coerced lie detector tests create a situation where the individual in question was wrongfully terminated.

Employers ights

The organization was essentially acting in a reaction to the presence of drugs within its facility. According to the general rule for employment, the organization believed it had the right to terminate the individual in question based on the concept of employment-at will. This concept is defined as "an employee…...

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References

Frank & Breslow. (2000). Employment-at-will. LaborLaws.com. Retrieved January 26, 2012 from  http://laborlaws.com/block4/item414/ 

Muhl, Charles J. (2001). The employment-at-will doctrine: Three major exceptions. Monthly Labor Review. 3-12. Retrieved January 26, 2012 from  http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2001/01/art1full.pdf 

OHS Health and Safety Services, Inc. (2012). California. Drug Testing Laws for All U.S. States. Retrieved January 26, 2012 from http://www.ohsinc.com/laws_state_drug_testing_laws_said.htm

U.S. Department of Labor. (2012). Employment and training administration fact sheet. Doleta.Gov. Retrieved January 26, 2012 from  http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/warn.htm

Essay Topic Examples 1. The Evolution of Employee Rights in the Modern Workplace


This essay topic invites an exploration of how employee rights have changed over time, particularly in response to the shifts in the economy, technology, and social values. It can examine key milestones and legislation that have contributed to the protection of workers, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and recent discussions around the gig economy and remote work.


2. Balancing Employee rivacy with Employer Oversight


Discuss the growing concern over employee privacy rights as they relate to employer surveillance and monitoring practices. This essay could evaluate the legal and ethical boundaries that companies should respect, while also considering the legitimate needs of employers to oversee operations and ensure productivity.


3. The Impact of Employee Rights on Organizational Culture


Analyze how the recognition and enforcement of employee rights can shape organizational culture. Delve into how strong workplace…...

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Primary Sources

United States. National Labor Relations Board. \"Your Rights Under The National Labor Relations Act.\" nlrb.gov, 2021.

International Labour Organization. \"Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.\" ilo.org, 1998.

 https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm 

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. \"Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964.\" eeoc.gov.

 https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964 

United States. Department of Labor. \"The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.\" dol.gov, 2009. https://www.nlrb.gov/guidance/key-reference-materials/your-rights-under-the-nlra

Legal Environment/Total ewards: A Changing Landscape
In the race for profit, employee pay has traditionally been seen by businesses as a competitive liability, and the trend for much of the 20th century was for employers to search for the cheapest, most efficient labor to protect their bottom line. Because of this approach, the U.S. government took several steps during the 20th century to protect employees from extortionary measures by employers to drive down wages and drive up productivity. However, as Chen and Hsieh point out in their 2006 article "Key Trends in the Total eward System of the 21st Century," recent decades have seen a dramatic shift in the way that corporations and human resources professionals view the issue of employee pay. Instead of being viewed as a liability, employee pay is increasingly being seen in a positive light, as a method for securing top talent, stabilizing turnover, and motivating production.…...

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References

Atkinson, W. (Nov 2009) Filling in around the edges. HR Magazine, Vol. 54, Iss. 11, 55-59.

Bohlander, G. & Snell, S. (2010) Managing Human Resources. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Chen, H. & Hsieh, Y. (Nov/Dec 2006) Key trends of the total reward system in the 21st century. Compensation and Benefits Review, Vol. 38, Iss. 6, 64-72.

Simon, T., Traw, K., McGeoch, B., & Bruno, F. (Summer 2007). How the final HIPAA nondiscrimination regulations affect wellness programs. Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 20, Iss. 2, 40-45.

American business has grown over the past several decades, so have the number of laws, rules, and regulations governing the operation of such business. These laws and regulations are generally of types: 1) to promote market competition and to keep the power of large corporations under control, and 2) to mitigate the adverse effects of business activity on individuals and organizations. These laws and regulations are often beneficial but they come at a cost. These costs are not always obvious but they include the cost of compliance as well as the increased risk of litigation. These costs affect all businesses no matter how large but they hit smaller businesses particularly hard. The purpose of this paper will be to examine the various laws and regulations affecting employee safety in the United States and determine their advantages and disadvantages.
Employment laws, regulations, and policies have become burdensome for American businesses. Whether…...

ights of the employees and employers in the UAE
This paper is divided into two parts: art one highlights the responsibilities and rights of the employers working within the UAE; the second part highlights the rights of the employees, including expatriates, working within the UAE.

Employer ights and Duties

Prevalence of Arabic

In all sorts of records, contracts, files, statements and documents Arabic language will be used and its use will also be compulsory for the instructions and the circulars used in the organization by the employer to the employees and if in any case there is any sort of foreign language prevailing then Arabic shall prevail over all the other texts (Labor Law, 2001).

ATICLE (4) - Amounts payable

The amount paid to the employees or any of hidden beneficiaries under the law shall be based on the value of the movable and immovable property and items of the employers. Then another point is that…...

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References

Human Rights Watch (HRW) (2006). Building Towers, Cheating Workers: Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in the United Arab Emirates. HRW, 18 (8).

Keane, D. And McGeehan, N. (2008). Enforcing Migrant Workers' Rights in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 15, 81 -- 115.

Latham & Watkins (L&W) (2009). Employment Issues in the United Arab Emirates. Memorandum. New York's Code of Professional Responsibility.

Labor Law. (2001). Labour Law And Its Amendments. U.A.E. Labor Law Federal Law No. (8) of 1980.

Striking is not deemed to be an acceptable method of dispute resolution under the Taylor Law. According to Section 209, an impasse is deemed to exist if the parties fail to achieve agreement at least one hundred twenty days prior to the end of the fiscal year of the public employer. Specific provisions of Section 209 pertain to certain, select public employment bodies, such as police and fire unions, which must submit directly to binding arbitration because of the vital nature of the services they provide. The PERB can assist resolution by appointing mediators, and if this fails, it can create a fact-finding board with the power to make recommendations. If an impasse is still manifest the dispute is shifted to the chief executive officer of the government involved and to the employee organization involved.
Union security

Public employees are allowed to unionize by law (and, indeed, it could be argued…...

Fair Labor Standards Act - Flexing to Avoid Overtime

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, a cornerstone of American labor law, mandates minimum wage, overtime pay, and record-keeping requirements for employees (U.S. Department of Labor, 2022). However, employers have sought strategies to avoid overtime payments, resulting in the practice of "flexing."

Flexing involves adjusting employees' schedules to manipulate their hours and avoid triggering overtime pay. This can be achieved through various methods:

Shift Splitting: Breaking shifts into smaller segments to minimize overtime accumulation. For example, a 10-hour shift could be split into two 5-hour shifts with a short break to reset the clock (Bartholomew, 2019).
Voluntary Time-Off: Encouraging employees to take unpaid time off before overtime hours are reached. This can be especially effective at the end of the workweek when employees are close to overtime (U.S. Department of Labor, 2019).
Delayed Pay: Delaying payment for overtime hours until the next pay period,…...

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References

Bartholomew, D. (2019). The Pros and Cons of Flexing Schedules. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/the-pros-and-cons-of-flexing-schedules.aspx

Fair Labor Standards Act (2023). U.S. Department of Labor.  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa 

Society for Human Resource Management (2022). FLSA Overtime: 7(b) Election and Other Options to Avoid Overtime Pay. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/flsa-overtime-7b-and-other-options-to-avoid-overtime-pay.aspx

U.S. Department of Labor (2016). Wage and Hour Division Field Operations Handbook.

Employee Privacy Torts
Issues relating to employee privacy have been at the forefront of businesses for many years. This has been fuelled by the dynamic workplace which changes constantly and also by employees and employers being more litigation-conscious. Technology has also spurred on employee privacy issues with e-mail and the internet being related to heightened concerns about vulnerability of employers to litigation. Many employers have thus exacerbated their concerns relating to employee privacy and especially monitoring of employee behavior. Employee privacy is respected in many of the large corporations. However, there still exist some breaches in employee privacy. Small business owners are at most risk as a result of their increased monitoring practices and close employer-employee interaction.

Historical background

oberson v. ochester Folding Box Company

One of the major cases that brought employee privacy to the limelight was oberson v. ochester Folding Box Company

Franklin Mills Co. decided to appeal the decision. The appellate found…...

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References

Anderson v. City of Philadelphia, 845 F. 2d 1216 (1988).

Borse v. Piece Goods Shop, 963 F.2d 611 (1991).

Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1988).

City of Ontario v. Quon, 130 S.Ct. 2619, 560 U.S. (2010).

Employee Privacy Torts
History of Employee Privacy

Changing Trends of Employee Privacy

Impact of Innovative Technology on Employee Privacy

ole of Social Media towards Employee Privacy

Impact of Changing Community/Society on Employee Privacy

Adaptation to the new Environment pertaining to Employee Privacy

Employee Monitoring and Surveillance

Laws and Employer Policies for Text Messaging and Social Media

Electronic Communication Privacy Act

Monitoring of Employee Conversations over Telephone & Email

ecommendations for creating Effective Policies

Future Implications of Employee Privacy

As years have passed and the human race has penetrated into the epoch of twenty first century, the technological advancements have conquered almost every facet of human life, especially the workplace. The widespread platform of the internet has become the integral part of a person's life, in the same manner as businesses are employing technological advancements to perform numerous activities like internet infrastructure, maintenance of computers and so on. It means that the human race is residing in a magnificent era where the flow of…...

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References

Baker, D., Buoni, N., Fee, M. & Vitale, C. (2011). Social Networking and Its Effects on Companies and Their Employees. Retrieved from:  http://www.neumann.edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/Review2011/SocialNetworking.pdf 

Bergh, N.V.D. (2000). Emerging Trends for Eaps in the 21st Century. Haworth Press, Incorporated.

Campbell, D. (2007). The Internet 2007: Laws and Regulatory Regimes. USA: Lulu.com.

Cate, F.H. (1997). Privacy in the Information Age. USA: Brookings Institution Press.

Employee Handbook Privacy Section
ABC Widget Company: Employee Handbook Privacy Section

What privacy rights issues should be addressed?

In the Age of Information, there are increasing concerns being voiced about what can legitimately be expected to be kept private, and how these issues affect employees' rights in the workplace. According to Hayden, Hendricks and Novak (1990, most adults spend approximately one-half of their waking hours in the workplace today, and it is therefore not surprising that employment practices affect a broad range of privacy rights. With the sole exception of polygraph ("lie-detector") testing, there are not many areas of workplace activities that are addressed by the U.S. Constitution or national privacy laws. As a result, employers in the United States have a great deal of flexibility in collecting data on their employees, regulating their access to personnel files, and disclosing the contents of employee files to those outside the organization. Besides the issue…...

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References

Backer, T.E. & O'Hara, K.B. (1991). Organizational change and drug-free workplaces:

Templates for success. New York: Quorum Books.

Hayden, T., Hendricks, E. & Novik, J.D. (1990). Your right to privacy: A basic guide to legal rights in an information society. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Muhl, C.J. (2003). Workplace E-Mail and Internet Use: Employees and Employers Beware An

Employee E-Mail and Internet Privacy Policies
The increased usage of the Internet and e-mail has changed the way companies do business. Nearly instantaneous communication can take place globally. Information on a countless number of topics can now be accessed from anywhere around the world. These technological developments have not only helped employees increase their efficiencies, but also has given them a new means of distraction from their duties. For this reason, many companies have developed e-mail and Internet policies.

At my job, our e-mail policy states that e-mails should not include illegal or libelous statements. E-mail is to be used for business purposes only and e-mail communications are the property of the company. For this reason, the company may access sent and received from work computers at any time, this includes deleted e-mails that are stored on the company's servers. The Internet policy is similar in that the Internet is also to…...

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References

Fact sheet 7: Workplace privacy and employee monitoring. (2010). Retrieved 6 Dec 2010, from  http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs7-work.htm#4a .

Privacy rights of employees using workplace computers in California. (2010). Retrieved 6 Dec 2010, from  http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/employees-rights.htm .

Employers may unequivocally monitor any message that utilizes company-provided email" (Sherman, 2007, pg. 649). Problems arise when the employer attempts other methods monitoring as Sherman notes; "The law is not clear, however, when an employer accesses an employee's webmail" (Sherman, pg. 649). Similar to the Deal v Spears case, the employer must take certain precautions in order to secure the right of monitoring. Many companies have developed policies and guidelines that are communicated to the employee in order to meet those requirements, but there are plenty of employee rights organizations that worry about infringement of employee privacy.
As technology can afford anonymity so to can it provide evidence that see through such anonymity. Thomas Jefferson once wrote; "Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made... And opinions change with the change…...

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References

Foley, J.P. (ed.); (1900) the Jeffersonian cyclopedia: A comprehensive collection of the views of Thomas Jefferson, pg. 726

Sherman, M.A.; (2007) Webmail at work: The case for protection against employer monitoring, Touro Law Review, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 647-683

United States Court of Appeals; (1992) Sibbie Deal; Calvin Lucas, Appellees v. Newell Spears; Juanita Spears, doing business as White Oak Package Store, Appellants, 980 F.2d 1153, 61 USLW 2353, 8 IER Cases 105

Williams, K.R.; (2008) Protecting what you thought was yours: Expanding employee privacy to protect the attorney-client privilege from employer computer monitoring, Ohio State Law Journal, Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 347-390

Privacy in the Workplace
The importance of privacy has risen over the years and its handling has become extremely crucial lately. Defaulting organisations have been faced with serious legal actions and thus, companies have taken a higher interest in the conversations of their workforce. However, this effort of the employer aimed at monitoring the activities of workers isn't as smooth as it should be due to the right of the employee to personal privacy.

The right of the workers to workplace privacy has caused several court cases recently, mostly due to the digital revolution of business communication i.e. emails, memos etc. Technological developments have made it possible for all form of digital communication as well as Internet use in the workplace to be placed under surveillance. Although employees have their reservations about this, the employers are protected by the law. However, other actions of the workers like confidential discussions and their private…...

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Bibliography

Cox, S., Goette, T., & Young, D. (2005). Workplace Surveillance and Employee Privacy: Implementing an Effective Computer Use Policy. Communications of the IIMA.

Muhl, C., (2003). Workplace e-mail and Internet use; employees and employers beware. Monthly Labor Review. 2, 36-45.

Smith, D., & Burg, J. (2012). What Are the Limits of Employee Privacy? Retrieved from GP Solo:  http://www.americanbar.org/publications/gp_solo/2012/november_december2012privacyandconfidentiality/what_are_limits_employee_privacy.html

Employee Layoff
A friend in California has just lost his job in a layoff together with 98 other employees in the same private sector company. The company's administrators have told him that he was included in the recent layoff because of his refusal to take a lie detector test regarding some drugs that were found in his company locker. He also declined to take a drug test since he was afraid that a positive result would make the state child protection agency to take away custody of his children. This situation is an example of a scenario with legal ramifications on the basis of several regulations such as Polygraph Protection Act, Worker Adjustment and etraining Notification Act, Privacy laws, Drug Testing laws, and OSHA.

Generally, the use of lie detector tests in the workplace is not geared towards determining whether an employee is telling the truth but to examine whether the worker's…...

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References:

"Employees' Rights in the Workplace." (1999). The Maryland State Bar Association, Inc.

Retrieved May 9, 2014, from  http://www.msba.org/departments/commpubl/publications/brochures/workplace.asp 

"Lie Detector Tests." (2008). Can My Boss Do That? Retrieved May 9, 2014, from  http://www.canmybossdothat.com/category.php?id=269

Rights and Obligations
'Drug use is information that is rightfully private and only in exceptional cases can an employer claim a right to know about such use." I wholly oppose this statement based on moral, as well as practical grounds. This brief considers the moral philosophy of utilitarianism, as well as the implications from which failure to drug test bring to a workplace.

The moral philosophy known as Utilitarianism was "originally proposed in the 19th Century by Jeremy Bentham," tuart Mill and others (Wikipedia, 2005, ¶1). The idea of this theory is one that suggests "the greatest good for the greatest number." My beliefs with regard to the first sentence are aligned with Utilitarian principle for two main reasons. The first are the figures that suggest that "drug abuse has been correlated with a decline in corporate profitability and an increase in the occurrence of work-related incidents," as it is "estimated that…...

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Sources

Cranford, Michael. (1998). Drug Testing and the Right to Privacy: Arguing the Ethics of Workplace Drug Testing. Retrieved August 5, 2005, from Sundoulous: a fellow slave Web site: http://sundoulos.com/drugtesting/.

Wikipedia. (2005). Utilitarianism. Retrieved August 5, 2005, from Wikipedia: The Online Encyclopedia Web site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism

Employee Relations Manager: Critical Roles and Challenges in Organizational Success

1. The Role of the Employee Relations Manager in Fostering a Positive Work Environment

Employee engagement and motivation strategies: Examining how employee relations managers design and implement initiatives to enhance employee satisfaction and productivity.
Conflict resolution and mediation skills: Analyzing employee relations managers' techniques for resolving workplace conflicts and maintaining harmonious work relationships.
Communication strategies for effective employee-employer interactions: Exploring the communication channels and methods used by employee relations managers to facilitate open and constructive dialogue with employees.
Diversity and inclusion initiatives: Assessing the role of employee relations managers in promoting....