Management of Employee Welfare

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Management of Employee Welfare

Wage and work hour protection laws vary from state to state. However, there are a number of protection laws that are the same in all of the United States. One of them is the protection law on unemployment benefits. In the event the employer is the one responsible for the termination, there are specific laws that should be adhered to (Vosco et al., 1). Individuals must have been jobless due to events beyond their power, such as layoffs or dismissals, and must also satisfy state-specific standards in order to be eligible for benefits. Employees generally have access to benefits for up to 6 months, though reimbursements may occasionally be prolonged during difficult economic circumstances.

Another wage and work hour protection law is the family leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted into law in 1993 (Vosco et al., 1). As an outcome, qualified workers are entitled to up to 3 months of leave without pay each year if they choose to stay at home after child birth or adopting a baby or in the event of a significant sickness for themselves or a member of their family. One must have been employed by the firm for at minimum a year and 1,250 hours in order to be eligible for FMLA payments. The law of employment based discrimination has also become very effective (Vosco et al., 1). The laws forbid employers from discriminating on employees based on gender, age, disability, race, religion and national origin. It states that all employees should be paid and treated the same based on their knowledge, skills and work experience.

Statutory Laws affecting Employee Rights over the Past 50 years

In the last 50 years, there have been a number of changes in the workforce. Employees have been given more rights to give them an easy time at work. Women who previously stayed at home and took care of their families now balance between families and work. The number of people in the workforce over the age of 35 has also increased as from the 1970s (Hofmann et al., 2). There are laws that protect employees against discrimination of age, gender, disability, race and religion. Other significant changes in employee rights laws include the least salary nationally which has been set by the Fair Labor Standards Act at $7.25 per hour, while specific states choose a higher rate. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for enforcing occupational safety legislation (Hofmann et al, 2). A company and worker payroll tax pays for Social Security benefits.

OSHA Violation in Texas

In February 2022, OSHA cited W.D. Townley and Son Lumber Company Incorporation after investigating since July 2021. This was after receiving a report that an employee had fallen from a stack of pallets (3). OSHA reported that the company lacked energy control procedures, dangerous equipment protection techniques and head protection gear. The company did not also alert OSHA of the accident 8 hours after it occurred. This was violation of OSHA laws which stated that each employer is required to create and maintain working environments that are generally safe, healthy, and free from observable risks that are causing or are likely to cause employee fatalities or significant physical harm (3).

Workers Compensation in Texas

According to Texas workers’ compensation legislation, an illness or injury acquired while promoting or carrying out the boss’s operations is covered, regardless of who is responsible. This includes illnesses sustained during work-related travel (Heyman & Timm, 4). A third party’s criminal act if directed at the worker for a limited purpose unconnected to the job, acts of religion, the worker’s pranks, willful heinous crimes or self-injury, drunkenness from alcohol or drugs informed consent in an off-duty leisure activity, inebriation, or other circumstances not obscured by the insurance. Injury reports must be submitted within 30 days of the incident, the initial impairment rating must be challenged within 3 months of its issuing, and the official documentation for a workers’ compensation claim must be submitted within 12 months of the incident (Heyman & Timm, 4). Those timeframes begin to run from the day the worker should have realized the illness or injury was related to their place of employment if the connection between the two was not immediately evident.

Sources

Vosko, Leah et al. 2017. The compliance model of employment standards enforcement: An evidence‐based assessment of its efficacy in instances of wage theft. P. 256-273. Retrieved from https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/55564763/2017_-_Leah_F_Vosko_-_Thecompliancemodelofemploymentstandardsenforcement_retrieved_2018-01-17_-with-cover-page-v2.pdf.

Hofmann, David A., Michael J. Burke, and Dov Zohar. 2017.100 years of occupational safety research: From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and risk. P 375. Retrieved from https://goallab.psych.umn.edu/orgpsych/readings/16.%20Occupational%20Health%20and%20Safety/Hofmann,%20Burke,%20&%20Zohar%20(2017).pdfINVESTIGATION INTO WORKER’S FATAL FALL FINDS HENDERSON SAWMILL, PALLET MANUFACTURER EXPOSED WORKERS TO WILLFUL, SERIOUS HAZARDS. Retrieved from https://advance-lexis-com.libdatab.strayer.edu/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=d2b86887-a6d5-40fc-ac68-a600528a2f8b&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A64PF-WPB1-DYTH-G3SX-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=8058&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=rz2yk&earg=sr0&prid=9296faa7-d988-4d83-beaa-92a7eeba69fdHEYMAN, RICH, and EMILY TIMM. 2020. Participatory Research Wins for Texas Workers.P 140. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wz-DEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA140&dq=Workers+Compensation+in+Texas&ots=0zi0I3lNXE&sig=GoIq5tJ8zv86BZ65ROk0kgJdDrE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Workers%20Compensation%20in%20Texas&f=false