All businesses are required to follow workplace regulations, aligning with fair practices and considering the safety and wellbeing of employees. In this article, we discuss some examples of the most important workplace regulations to be aware of.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
OSHA is the main regulatory body responsible for safe working environments, enforcing regulations that mean employers have a duty of care to ensure their staff are able to work in line with health and safety requirements. From providing the necessary PPE an employee needs to carry out their role to training staff on how to safely handle any hazardous materials, the range of OSHA standards is in place to reduce the risk of workplace accidents, preventing injury and illness where possible.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Responsible for enforcing the standards for minimum wage, the FLSA ensures employees are paid fairly for their work, including overtime pay. An employer is required to align with these regulations or legal repercussions can be faced, ensuring that workers receive fair compensation for the work carried out. As well as being a legal requirement, this provides a sense of security for employees, providing them with a fair wage that aligns with the work carried out and hours put in.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Organizations must put clear policies in place to manage data collection and storage in a way that aligns with GDPR regulation. This is a necessity to ensure that any data collected is stored and used in a way that respects the privacy of employees and customers, keeping their information safe and only accessible by authorized personnel. As well as being a legal requirement, this provides a sense of trust between a person and an organization when sharing their private information.
Civil Rights Act 1964
Prohibiting discrimination based on race, religion, age, sexual orientation, and gender, the Civil Rights Act 1964 means a workplace is legally not permitted to discriminate against employees based on their personal background. By encouraging diversity and inclusivity, the act has helped create more healthy organizational cultures that protect employees from unfair discriminatory treatment.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
This regulation came into place to permit up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave per year for eligible employees who encounter a serious medical condition, have to care for an unwell spouse, or give birth to a child. There is a list of specified reasons that allow the leave to be taken and this was introduced to create a better balance between work and employee welfare. The FMLA gives eligible employees the legal right to take unpaid leave should they face an unexpected situation, allowing them the opportunity to better manage the needs of themselves and their family.
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
Protecting the rights of employees and employers by allowing them to use representatives to bargain for change, the NLRA promotes a balanced power dynamic between employers and employees. Collective bargaining allows employees to negotiate better working conditions and eliminate practices which may compromise their welfare. The act establishes guidelines for the labor unions and gives employees more of a voice within the workplace.
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