Labor Law Attorneys

The legal industry spans the globe for just about every possible issue you can think of:

1.    A Malpractice Lawsuit
2.    A Divorce Petition
3.    An Adoption Procedure
4.    A Probate Process
5.    A Criminal Case

Anything involving life, which involves the process of law, requires a good lawyer.

This brings about one important fact about labor law, which is what this is all about:

A Client Has to Know the Essentials of Labor Law: Labor law attorney

More appropriately, knowing what an experienced labor law attorney handles will be helpful in dealing with those sorts of cases.

What is “labor law”?

In essence, it’s the balance of bargaining power between employee and employer. It’s about fairness in the workplace. Fair wages, fair benefits, fair treatment – and that goes for both sides of the coin.

This is crucial as well:

1.    “Collective” Labor Law
2.    “Individual” Labor Law

Those are two different types of labor law to consider, and the right experienced labor law attorney will know all the ins and outs of either form of law or both.

“Collective” labor law involves something called a trade union. It’s a third party involved with the business relationship between employer and employee. All legal rights of an employee are enforced and asserted through the union, and the employer then recognizes those assertions and appropriately handles business according those assertions. It typically involves the entire workforce of a company.

“Individual” labor law deals with one single employee versus the whole staff, for instance. Certain aspects like sufficient wages, promised benefits, treatment at work for that specific employee – all of that falls under the jurisdiction of individual labor law.

Common Issues Discussed in Labor Law: :Labor law attorney

A qualified labor law attorney may deal with several issues in a case, such as:

1.    Contract of Employment
2.    Minimum Wage
3.    Working Time
4.    Health and Safety
5.    Anti-Discrimination
6.    Unfair Dismissal
7.    Strikes

Depending on the state, these factors play out differently, and a qualified labor law attorney depending on residency will handle these factors differently as well.

Understanding the “Contract of Employment” :Labor law attorney

There’s not one labor law attorney out there that wouldn’t understand the point of this aspect of labor law: that in order for employment to be lawful, there has to be some form of “contract” stating the specific terms of employment. Generally speaking, it’s this contract that serves the purpose of letting the employee know what to expect in the job.

Typically in most states, contracts will list what is called an “at-will” employment, simply meaning that either employee or employer can end the business relationship without stating a reason so long as the reason is a legal reason.

The Law of Minimum Wage: Labor law attorney

If labor law attorneys ever saw anything in an employment contract listing an hourly wage that’s less than the “minimum wage” for the state, right away there will be a legal issue that must be addressed.

That is, essentially, what the minimum wage law is for: to ensure that workers are getting paid suitably for the work they do.

Standards for Working Time: Labor law attorney

As always, fair treatment is associated with this to the point where suitable employment shouldn’t be anything like slavery.

Thanks to this part of labor law, qualified labor law attorneys can determine whether or not an employee is receiving the correct amount of breaks in a shift, whether or not the employee is receiving the correct amount of hours as stipulated in the employment contract, and whether or not the employee works the standard amount of hours – maximum of 8 hours full-time, and also if over 8 hours, overtime pay.

The Issue of Health and Safety: Labor law attorney

Labor law attorneys will investigate any issues involving health and safety as well if the case presents itself to lead toward those possibilities.

By law, an employee has a right to be safe and healthy in the workplace. Typically, that may involve specific duties on the job, determining whether or not anything is deemed dangerous, or detrimental to the health of the employee. Employers must make sure that everything is safe and sound in their business.

Enforcing Anti-Discrimination: Labor law attorneys

This is a major hot issue for labor law attorneys, because in many cases it’s very difficult to prove discrimination. The laws regarding this also involve not only racial discrimination, but gender discrimination and age discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination.

In essence, no one should be refused a job because of their race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Proving that such discrimination exists, though, would reside with the skill and experience of high-profile labor law attorneys. Witnesses can testify. Evidence can be brought to the court. Any number of certain possibilities can happen in a labor law litigation case involving discrimination.

The Idea Behind Unfair Dismissal: Labor law attorneys

This is an even tougher one, but the best labor law attorneys can handle cases like this just as easy. Countries vary widely in their labor laws, but specifically in the United States, the idea of “unfair dismissal,” also known as wrongful dismissal,involves the termination of employment without proper cause or due process.

That simply means an employee can’t be fired for several reasons:

1.    Because the Employee Filed a Discrimination Charge on the Employer
2.    Because the Employee Refused to Do Something Illegal for the Employer
3.    Because the Employer Didn’t Follow Proper Termination Procedure as Outlined by the Employee Manual for The Company

That being known, labor law attorneys have that burden of proof in a labor law litigation case. If that itself is the issue.

On the Subject of Strikes….Labor law attorneys

Some of this might be a mystery, but labor law actually details specifics on strikes –

1.    Sympathy Strikes
2.    General Strikes
3.    Strike Restrictions
4.    Boycotts

In general, “sympathy strikes” – strikes held by non-employees – are prohibited. General strikes can only be prohibited by a public order, but labor law itself neither allows it nor denies it.

There may even be some workers that aren’t permitted to strike, such as:

1.    Airport Personnel
2.    Medical Personnel
3.    Police
4.    Firemen
5.    Educators

Again, it differs from state to state.