In the context of the growing globalization of the world community, the experience of legal regulation of certain public relations in foreign countries is of increasing interest. One of the main sources of U.S. law operating throughout the United States is the U.S. Code of Laws. Each of the sections of this Code is devoted to regulating a separate group of legal relations. Thus, the unit is dedicated to the legal regulation of labor relations—29 of the U.S. Code of Laws.
The solution of issues related to US labor law is not only of great theoretical but also practical importance since it undoubtedly contributes to the optimization of the process of regulating relations that develop in the field of labor. It should be noted that to understand the content of US labor law properly, a number of circumstances must be taken into account. Firstly, US labor law belongs to the Anglo-Saxon system of law, which ultimately determines the influence of judicial decisions (precedents) on the relations of the subject of law. Secondly, the principle of federalism, which underlies the delimitation of powers of federal and state bodies, is of no small importance in US labor law (Collier et al., 2018). Thirdly, in the system of sources of law, absolute priority is given to collective agreements, which leads to the fact that individual labor law is considered a derivative of collaborative labor law, having a subordinate and secondary character.
One of the fundamental acts in this area was the Law “On Fair Labor Standards”, adopted in 1938. It should be noted that this Law, for the first time at the state level in the United States, enshrined the rights and obligations of employees and employers in the field of labor. Thus, this Law became the first regulatory legal act in the history of the United States designed to provide minimum guarantees of wages and other working conditions in the United States. “Employer” and “employee”. For the first time, This Law established a legal definition of the concepts of “employee” and “employer” (Mello, 2019). Thus, according to the Law, the term “employer” includes any person who, in relations with employees, directly or indirectly acts in the interests of the employer, except for a labor organization, i.e., a trade union (except in cases when the labor organization is an employer), or another person with the authority of an employee or representative of such a labor organization.
The National Commission for Equal Labor Rights in the United States monitors compliance with the requirements of federal legislation and considers discrimination cases. Discrimination is a negative attitude towards people when hiring, promotion, dismissal based on prejudice or intolerance. For example, manifestations of discrimination include a groundless refusal to hire an appropriately qualified African-American or assigning a woman a lower salary (compared to a man performing similar duties). If the employer’s actions are discriminatory, he is obliged to pay compensation to the injured party and take positive steps. The latter means that the employer is obliged to eliminate the imbalance in the employment of representatives of various minorities. The organization should develop a plan of positive steps — formal documents that the employer can request from both the employees themselves and the supervisory authorities (Mello, 2019). The main purpose of positive organizational measures is to reduce or eliminate internal inequality between groups of employees of the company.
Disobeying the law on equal employment opportunities threatens American employers with large fines. For example, the company Shoney A class-action lawsuit has been filed in discrimination against black workers and candidates for vacancies. The company was accused of limiting the number of black employees directly serving visitors in its restaurants. The company had to pay $105 million to individuals who became victims of its hiring, promotion, and dismissal policies between 1985 and 1992 (Collier et al., 2018). Discrimination lawsuits can be initiated on the basis of a wide variety of complaints, including the so-called “slight inequality”.
The dominance of collective labor relations in the subject of US labor law is explained by the historical prerequisites for the formation of a system of labor legislation, primarily related to the protective and representative functions of trade unions and the definition of the dominant role and importance of collective bargaining for the conclusion of collective agreements in the process of regulating industrial relations between employees and employers.
In conclusion, an analysis of trends in the development of labor legislation shows that in the United States, the scope of laws ensuring equal right to work is expanding at all Levels — federal, state, and municipal. Attention to the rights and operating conditions of women, minorities, the elderly, and the disabled are constantly increasing. In addition, while in the past, most of the lawsuits related to positions that did not require high qualifications, in the 1990s, most of the lawsuits were related to discrimination against applicants for leadership positions.
References
Collier, R. B., Dubal, V. B., & Carter, C. L. (2018). Disrupting regulation, regulating disruption: The politics of Uber in the United States. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 919-937. Web.
Mello, J. A. (2019). Why the Equal Pay Act and Laws Which Prohibit Salary Inquiries of Job Applicants Can Not Adequately Address Gender-Based Pay Inequity. SAGE Open. Web.