Why we have employment laws and where those laws stand today

I believe we became great nation with great opportunity because we are a nation of laws.  Our nation fought for and our forefathers died to overcome tyranny and oppression. As a result our founding fathers put in place laws insuring what they experienced under England, the Church of England and the King’s rule would not be visited on our nation’s citizens.  Over the last 75 - 100 years laws giving workers legal protections and redress have been enacted in the same way our criminal codes protect citizens, with legal enforcement by prosecuting violations and crimes against workers.

Previous generations of workers fought and died to have laws enacted to protect future generations of workers from experiencing what these previous generations had endured at the whim of business in their quest for greater profits.  They include: a minimum wage, overtime, qualified salaried overtime, equal pay, pay for time worked, a work place free from discrimination and harassment, protection from retaliation for complaining and/or filing suit regarding these legal concerns, are just a few.

The right to organize, join a union and have representation has also been won over this same period of time.  Union actions and bargaining, not legislation, have resulted in workers receiving healthcare benefits, lunches, breaks, holidays, sick leave and vacations.  These benefits were initially not legally protected.  However, many (not all) of these benefits have been adopted by companies, state government employment, federal employment itself and many now are protected by state  laws.  These are just some of results all workers enjoy in the U.S. from long labor law fights and bargaining. 

Laws are meaningless if they can’t be or aren’t enforced.  I wish voluntarily compliance worked, but it does not and never has.  This is because voluntary compliance does not work universally.  There are always those who want the edge, an advantage, to not play by the rules or will simply ignore law, spin their view to appear as if they are complying and go on about their business as if everything is fine….This is not much different than the obviously guilty suspect denying being any part of the crime because they got “caught”, when they are clearly guilty, and still plead “not guilty” in court.  The same can be said for company rules and regulations.  They are meaningless without a clearly stated policy and enforcement of those rules should they be broken.

A 2011 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) report estimated 70+% of businesses were not complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)!  Private lawyers and legal firms handling employee complaints of employment law violations estimate non-compliance and willful/purposeful violation of DOL, FLSA, and Wage and Hour Laws at 90+%!!!  This means part of company profits have been derived from the illegal treatment and payment of employees.  This is an ongoing crime against workers and against their companies by those who perpetrate it! 

This means the vast majority of our country’s business and industry are ignoring hard fought and basic fundamental worker’s rights and laws!  Employers must believe these laws don’t exist, can be ignored or don’t apply to them or, or worse, don’t know they exist.  This may be because consistent federal enforcement has been absent for over 30+ years, leaving only voluntary compliance.  Employers constantly tell workers these laws are misunderstood or they don’t exist at all. 

It may be these laws are not understood by employers and/or are purposely misstated or denied. Whatever the reason, ignoring the law has simply become more cost effective than complying.  If you seldom, or never, get caught, it is simple finance:  paying fines, some back amounts and legal fees, is just cheaper than paying what the law requires and demands along the way.

There has always been company management that ignored law.  However, I am not aware of any time in either my work history or the last 75 years of U.S business history when 90%+ of all business ignored the Law! Worse, a huge segment of business and HR management doesn’t seem to know or understand they are violating the law, or why and what they are in violation of!  Regardless of the employee’s legal right to question and sue employers regarding protected employment issues, past non-enforcement has been interpreted by employers as the right to do as they please, up to and including firing employees who question employer’s illegal practices. 

Legally, this is retaliation.  Employees are protected from such actions potentially causing fines and damages to double or triple!  An employee’s rights are further obscured by various “at will” or "right to work" laws in effect in 28 states, leading many employers and employees to think employees have no recourse.  Nothing could be more untrue!  However, these laws obscure the employee's true federal legal rights and employers believe, even mistakenly, employees have no recourse.

With our economy just stumbling along, few will risk being laid off by complaining about their pay, working conditions or treatment.   They simply won’t risk being unemployed and who can blame them.  Realistically, legal action, after being terminated, can take years to resolve and will not pay the mortgage, rent, insurance premiums, buy clothing or put food on the table.  Most workers have little knowledge of their legal rights.  Furthermore, employees simply do not know of their legal options through those federal agencies charged with enforcing the law and protecting workers. Sadly, their own government has caused this disconnect through lack of activity and enforcement, on purpose!

Next posting: Where U.S. workers stand in the today’s workplace