Legal, Safety, and Regulatory Requirements Essay

Abstract The workplace can be a very dynamic place; there are so many different people with all kinds of personalities. Because there are so many different personalities, there are different needs of safety which can create obstacles in the organization. This is where the Human Resource Department comes into play, they make sure that the needs of all employees are met and that they are working in a safe environment. Litigation has taken the place of common sense and compassion within organizations over the past years. Litigation has become a main priority and the Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and also the Department of Homeland Security all have been regulating this. Although some may disagree that litigation has created a more structured work environment, there are a lot that would say it has. Litigation has balanced out the differences in the workplace. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission There once was a time when common sense and compassion were used to decide what to do with issues, but now that there are laws put in place to ensure that legal, safety, and regulatory requirements are obeyed there are less issues. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is one of those regulations. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces federal laws which make it illegal for any organization to discriminate against someone applying for the position or someone who is already an employee for reasons like their race, gender, color of skin, age, disability, or religion. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2011) This also ensures that a person who is claiming that they were discriminated against is not discriminated for that. These laws are applied to any type of work situations, like harassments, wages/benefits, hiring/firing, promotions, or any type of training. If a company discriminates based on any of these assumptions they will be investigated and possibly prosecuted if found guilty. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2011) Department of Labor Department of Labor is another one that focuses on employee-related regulations. The Department of Labor  enforces well over 180 laws; these laws regulate many activities that go on in the work environment. The Fair Labor Standards Act is one of these laws and it ensures that employees that are working overtime are paid fairly. (United States Department of Labor, 2011) Another federal law that the Department of Labor regulates is the Occupational Safety and Health Act which ensures that private industries are regulated on a regular basis and they must be approved by the Occupational Safety and Health Act state programs. This is only two acts that ensure litigation for the Department of Labor, but there are many more. (United States Department of Labor, 2011) American with Disabilities Act Another law that was passed to regulate legal and safety requirements was the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This law was passed by congress to ensure that nobody with a disability regardless of what kind of disability it may be cannot be discriminated against simply for that reason. The disability has to be further evaluated before any decisions are made. (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011) If the applicant has a disability such as abuse form a substance or their vision is impaired, but can be corrected with prescribed lenses than they cannot be discriminated against. In 2008 former President George W. Bush passed the American Disability Act of 2008 which made the protection of disabled workers a little broader. (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011) U.S. Department of Homeland Security The U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulates our nation and makes sure that all threats are taken seriously and handled properly. They have a goal which entails that the federal agency must make sure that environmental justice is a top priority. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2011) Conclusion I personally feel that all of these laws are set in place to ensure that all work related issues are handled without any favor. Before any of these laws it was he said she said, there was a lot of discrimination against people, so most of the time decisions were not made fairly. Human Resources have to regulate all of these laws, they deal with all of the issues in an organization and they handle them all based on federal laws. All problems  are evaluated and decided based on litigation, not by common sense or compassion because one person’s view on common sense or compassion may not be fair or just. References: United States Department of Labor, (2011). Rulemaking and Regulations. Retrieved February 14, 2012 from http://www.dol.gov/asp/regs/rulemaking.htm U.S. Department of Homeland Security, (2011). About. Retrieved February 14, 2012 from http://www.dhs.gov/files/prepresprecovery.shtm U.S. Department of Justice, (2011). ADA Regulations and Technical Assistance Materials. Retrieved February 15, 2012 from http://www.ada.gov/publicat.htm#Anchor-14210 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (2011). Overview. Retrieved February 14, 2012 from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/index.cfm