https://www.webtechmania.com/navigating-employment-law-what-every-hr-professional-needs-to-know/https://www.webtechmania.com/navigating-employment-law-what-every-hr-professional-needs-to-know/HR professionals need to have a good understanding of the employment law. This is quite a complex field that regulates those relationships between employees and employers, and covers a wide variety of issues, from workplace safety to specific hiring practices. Anyway, as an HR professional, you have to understand the law in order to not only ensure compliance, but also create a positive work atmosphere, and ultimately minimize the risk of expensive litigation.
Read more about the connection of HR and the employment law: https://www.thehrdirector.com/hr-employment-law-connection-importance/
Clearly, there are plenty of important things that these experts have to know in regards to the employment law. What we will do below is list some of those crucial aspects that every HR professional absolutely needs to be familiar with, hoping to help them navigate the law better and do their work successfully. So, without any more ado, let us take a look at the things you have to know if you’re working in this field, or generally when running any kind of a company.
Table of Contents
1. Wage and Hour Laws Matter
Minimum wage is a term used so frequently nowadays that everyone understands what it means. Workers are also quite aware of the laws regarding the minimum wage and hours, so it goes without saying that HR professionals need to know the ins and outs of those too, so as to ensure fair compensation. There are rules and regulations to follow under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or similar laws, referring to minimum wage, overtime, as well as classification of employees and similar things, and you need to be aware of those in order to stay compliant.
2. Understand Anti-Discrimination Laws
In addition to ensuring fair payment, HR professionals also have to keep the employees protected against any kind of unfair treatment and discrimination based on gender, race, religion, age, disability or anything else. So, you have to be aware of both the state and the federal anti-discrimination laws, including The Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and others. If you are, thus, not sure you understand all of these, you should definitely take your time to get a better grasp on them, so as to successfully do your work.
3. Use Resources That Will Help You Navigate Everything
There is no doubt that understanding, as well as implementing all of those employment law requirements can be rather difficult, time-consuming, as well as costly. What you should do, thus, is find those resources that should help you navigate the entire field much better. If you go to this website, for example, you will see that there are useful resources out there that will help you get the HR solutions you need in no time, while also assisting you in the effective management of employment-related costs. Among other things, these can help you assess the cost-effectiveness of worker training and hiring, while also factoring in the effects of turnover.
Furthermore, you can use them to easily estimate legal consultation expenses, as well as the costs of regulatory audits and policy implementations. Additionally, you will get to easily project the expenses of employee benefits, and effectively manage those costs. In the simplest words possible, tools like these allow you to make budget-friendly decisions without worrying about compromising compliance.
4. Promoting Workplace Safety and Health Is Important
Another thing that you should know if you want to stay in compliance with the employment law, and you should, is that promoting workplace safety and health is a must. And, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets forth some standards that you have to adhere to in order to ensure both safe and healthy working conditions. As HR professionals, you have to develop and implement specific safety policies that will be in compliance with those OSHA standards.
5. Learn How to Navigate Employment Contracts
Learning how to navigate employment contracts is another significant thing that HR professionals have to do when aiming at staying in compliance and not getting in trouble with the law. Those contracts establish clear terms regarding termination, notice, severance, and other conditions related to the employment. Confidentiality agreements, as well as non-compete and non-solicitation ones play a huge role here.
So, what do you have to do as an HR pro in this regard? Review to contracts to ensure they are in compliance with the employment laws. Then, ensure that those restrictive covenants are reasonable. And, of course, get legal consultation in order to draft or to revise the contracts when necessary.
6. As Well As Termination
In addition to handling employment, you also have to know how to handle termination. This is a sensitive area, and you need to learn how to navigate it in order to reduce risk of litigation. So, make sure to learn all the steps for fair and legal termination, so as not to get your business in trouble.