Learning Objectives
- Describe the connection between the national events and the advent of HR laws
- Understand the various laws that are in place today to protect workers
HR and the Law
As we will see in later chapters, the purpose of HR is to facilitate employee engagement as a primary focus within the organization. Their strategic role in the organization serves as a competitive advantage in this regard when executed properly. However, a more basic function of the human resource department is compliance with the legal environment. We learned in chapter 1 that labor practices in the United States have progressed substantially since before the founding of the country. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a more detailed review of the labor laws in the U.S. that impact modern practice.
HR is primarily reactive when it comes to legal compliance. The courts or legislation create new compliance rules and regulations. HR’s role is to understand and apply those regulations to their organization. There are organizations such as the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and other industry associations that keep managers abreast of political movements, so that HR departments can prepare implementations of compliance programs. However, it is paramount for HR managers to understand the social, economic, and cultural environment so that they might be able to anticipate new regulations, and to create a culture that responds to the needs and demands of society even before the legal factors impact them. In this chapter, we will review not only the laws that affect modern HR practices, but we will also give a historical context to allow for a broader understanding of where these laws come from.
A few examples for modern practitioners. Some states have legalized marijuana, while others maintain the use of this drug as a misdemeanor. At the federal level, marijuana is still considered a controlled substance. If you are a company operating in Kansas (where marijuana is illegal), and you have an applicant from Colorado (where marijuana is legal), what does an HR manager make of the results of a pre-employment drug screening? Another example lies within equal employment – as the social tensions concerning race and minority inclusion continue to escalate in all aspects of culture, how will HR departments respond in hiring practices, training, teambuilding, and development within their organization? In regards to benefits, what response should HR managers provide to conservative employees who feel like their voice is not being heard amid the politically charged workplace environments? For example, their desire not to have health plans that include collective bargaining for services such as abortion and contraception creates an ethical challenge. In what ways will genetic information, artificial intelligence, cyber defense, and working from home in a post-Covid pandemic play in future practice and legal compliance? All of these questions remain unanswered f