Labor Law

3 Reasons why Employment Law is important

Woman Legislation

Let’s face it; we live in a litigious world where it seems as if everyone wants to sue someone for something. Any time one feels that they have been wronged in any way can lead to a lawsuit. Protecting yourself and your company is important in this day and age when a lawsuit could be looming at any point. While the law can apply to any aspect of life, we will focus on the reasons why employment law is particularly important in this article.

Protection against child labor

Child labor laws have not always been in place and in the past many children were subjected to working in environments that were not only harmful and dangerous, but caused severe injuries. During war times especially, many children were hired to take on jobs that adults who were fighting in the war once held. Children were also sent to work because they needed to help make money for their family to help make ends meet. Laws have since been passed that prohibit young children from working as it is a danger to them and the workplace. Not only does this law protect children, but it also protects adults from working in hazardous environments that are prone to accidents or even death.

Regulate fair wages

While there are still some unfair wage practices such as men getting paid more than women, these inadequacies have decreased a great deal over the years since employment laws were put in to place by the government. Employment laws protect workers in that they must receive fair wages for the job in which they are performing for a company. Without a law set by the government that determines the set minimum wage standards, companies could pay whatever they felt was necessary. This was often unfair as many worked long days to make little pay that would barely support their families. Now with minimum wage requirements put in to place, workers will make a rate that is considered to be something that one can live on. While it is not much compared to the cost of living, it is much better than what the wages would be if there were no regulations in place.

Worker’s compensation when hurt on the job

Working is imperative to providing you and your family shelter, food, and items that are necessary in order to live. Without employment law and worker’s compensation protection, many workers found themselves in a horrible predicament should they become injured on the job. Without worker’s compensation, a worker who was injured on the job and could no longer work to make money, was not only out of the income they relied on to make ends meet, but they often lost their jobs. With worker’s compensation laws, an employer must provide medical treatment to the employee as well as a portion of the earned wages they would bring in during a shift.

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Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. While in college he was the vice-president of the Astronomy Club. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

One Comment

  • Lily Williams

    Not having the right support structures in place and so on can mean people are not driven to want to succeed, and if they don\’t want to succeed, neither will your firm. Making sure a good general understanding of HR basics is worth thinking about to achieve this, and it also leads to a lower risk of any employment law tribunals down the line. My law firm recently received HR support from Guardian Support, as the firms management had been made aware of some potential issues within the company that could have escalated. It would be worth investigating the pros and cons of having HR services as part of your company if you currently do not have a structure in place as it could come back to bite you.

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