Employee rights and responsibilities

In discussion of employee rights and responsibilities there are different types of rights and responsibilities are associated with business activities that need to be manage with any business entity irrespective of nature or extend of its performance. All employees are referred to be act as concern to be business rights and responsibilities of individual level.

Rights of employees

1.       Discrimination Laws

A variety of federal laws make it illegal to discriminate against employees or potential hires based on certain personal attributes. The key law is the Civil Rights Act, although numerous amendments and other laws have expanded worker protections.

In general, the Civil Rights Act dictates that you cannot make decisions about hiring, firing, advancement, training or other worker roles on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin. Other laws provide additional worker rights so that discrimination based on pregnancy, age or disability is also prohibited. Companies cannot use genetic information, as might be obtained from a pre- employment health screening, as the basis of decisions.(Great Britain. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2007)

2.       Health and Safety

Workers deserve reasonably safe and secure working conditions, and this right is codified in federal laws such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Worker safety provisions for retail activities are different from those at a construction site or a manufacturing operation, for example. Make sure you are aware of the safety provisions that apply to your business.(Osigweh, 1989)

3.       Wages and Hours

The laws set the minimum wage for many workers as well as a minimum age at which employees can be hired. The laws also mandate specific rules for overtime pay, rest breaks and maximum hours worked.

Employee responsibilities

Also there are set of responsibilities are associated with employees and followings are disused along with  responsibilities of employees

Workers are usually considered to be at-will employees. That is, they have a job because company opted to hire them, and their primary responsibility is to carry out the job for which they were hired. The employer is under no particular obligation to continue that employment. Failure on a worker's part to carry out the job responsibilities means running the risk of the worker losing the job.

However, rights and responsibilities overlap. For example, employees are protected against retaliation for reporting a health violation in a workplace. If the worker is then fired for such reporting, employee can challenge his dismissal as unjust. Even though the worker is an at-will employee, the employer is not permitted to fire him as a retaliatory measure in that situation.(Osigweh, 1987)

Some jobs come with specific employee responsibilities. An accountant has a fiduciary duty to employer; a doctor is expected to do no harm. All employees have a responsibility to obey the law. However, a worker's primary responsibility is to carry out the tasks of the job as defined by the employer.

Reference

Great Britain. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2007. Individual Rights and Responsibilities of Employees: A Guide for Employers and Employees. s.l.:Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform.

Osigweh, C. A. B., 1987. Communicating Employee Responsibilities and Rights: A Modern Management Mandate. s.l.:Quorum Books.

Osigweh, C. A. B., 1989. Managing Employee Rights and Responsibilities. the University of Michigan: Quorum Books.