The Importance of Employment Law in The Employer and Employee Relationship

Employment law entails the rights responsibilities within the employer and employee relationship from compensation and safety in the workplace to employee discrimination and wrongful employee termination. For example, employees and potential candidates have rights as well as protections, such as the right to not be discriminated against in any way; and it’s an employee’s right to be paid according to the law; and the right to take a leave of absence due to family situations and medical reasons. 

According to our text book, employment law consists of workers’ compensation, occupational safety, pay and hour rules, and other laws that concern employment. Workers’ compensation is defined as compensation paid to individuals and their families when individuals are injured while performing their job. These laws are included in every state to keep employees from losing income and also from paying high medical payments due to injuries related to work such as sickness or accidents. Workers' compensation coverage is a must and if coverage is not mandatory for an employer, participating in the state's program is usually the best choice to protect employees. 

An example of an employment-related injury would be if an employee is injured in a car accident when he or she is driving to a business lunch for their employer, the injury would be covered by workers’ compensation. On the other hand, if an employee is injured in a car accident while he or she is driving to an off-premises restaurant during their personal lunch hour, the injury would not be covered by workers’ compensation. The difference in this case is on the clock oppose to personal time. 

My place of employment participates in the workers’ compensation program and follows the necessary steps and policies of when a workers’ compensation situation arises. My place of employment is in an office with my other co-workers and is a really safe environment to work in. My employer has not had any workers’ compensation cases since I have been there, and I have been with my employer for three years. My role is a Clinical Informatics Specialist which this particular role falls under the IT department. 

Every day I enjoy working in IT and working with computers and helping our field staff better serve our patients by the use of technology. As it has to do with the law and being in compliance, all medical records are to be in electronic format and that’s where my department comes into play in assisting the field staff with patient care and make sure they can do their job correctly and efficiently while using our user-friendly software. My department and I are always there to assist with common troubleshooting problems and assisting with the clinical software that we use. 

A workers’ compensation case can happen anywhere at any time, but at my employer I believe a workers’ compensation case is more likely to happen when one of our field staff members is providing patient care or on the road while driving to see their next patient. It’s always best practice to be alert and aware while driving to avoid serious injury. Our clinicians are on the road at least six to eight hours a day so it’s important for them to be defensive drivers at all times. Our clinicians put a lot of miles on their vehicles while serving different counties and zip codes. They always need to be aware of their surroundings and to never rush to their next patient’s house. My employer always promotes safety to our clinicians and to any other employee that travels frequently to one of our outer offices. 

Another topic I would like to discuss on employment law is employee discrimination. Employment Discrimination laws seek to prevent discrimination based on gender, race, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, just to name a few. Discriminatory practices include prejudice in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, retaliation, and various types of harassment. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution is there to limit control of the federal and state governments to discriminate against individuals. The Fifth Amendment has a clear requirement that the federal government does not deny individuals of 'life, liberty, or property' without due process of the law. It also contains an understood guarantee that every individual receives equal protection of these laws. 

The Fourteenth Amendment clearly prohibitions states from violating an individual's rights to due process and provides equal protection for individuals. Due process protection requires that employees receive a fair process before termination if the termination relates to a 'liberty' such as the right to free speech. Free speech is very important to every working individual and every working individual has that right to do so. Due process of law is a principle of fairness in all legal matters and court cases. All legal procedures must be followed for each individual so that no damaging or unequal treatment will happen. Due process of law is meant to safeguard both private and public rights against unfairness towards individuals. 

The reason I bring up employment discrimination is because while on the job I witnessed it once and I do not agree how things were handled. Everyone was going about their day and working hard and doing what they needed to get done. Everyone was having conversations and getting along and then I overheard a conversation outside my office about not agreeing with our president Donald Trump. Overhearing this conversation, I soon discovered it had to do with politics and opinions of our president. A co-worker of mine made a comment about Donald Trump and it was not a positive comment. Due to this comment being made another co-worker of mine reported it to her direct supervisor and stated that she was offended. This comment that was made by this particular co-worker costed them their job. This co-worker was terminated on the spot for making a negative comment about Donald Trump. 

There was no verbal warning in advance or a written write up, she was let go over something that she said. In today’s world, I know not everyone agrees with everything and that is fine, but what happened to agree to disagree? We live in a society today where you have to be really careful with what you say. I’m not talking about being disrespectful to someone or talking down to them, what I’m referring to is a matter of opinion, freedom of speech. Today’s world I feel like individual’s cannot truly speak their minds because they are scared of retaliation. Some conversations are not meant for the workplace and I understand that, but I disagree on how things were handled. 

In my own opinion, I believe my co-workers rights to freedom of speech were taking away. At the most she should gotten a verbal warning stating it’s not appropriate to talk about certain matters in the workplace. From this example I shared I do not speak about personal matters to anyone. Soon after this termination occurred, I was very careful with what I said and I am very careful to even this day at my job. The only information I talk about is if it is strictly work related. In this particular case my employer did not act ethical and should have found another avenue or work around for the situation. 

Another case I would like to discuss that occurred at my employer is wrongful termination. This occurrence happened after hours and not on the clock and is the reason why this particular case is mind boggling. After the termination occurred everyone including myself knew of the reason why and the events that caused the termination to take place. In the past I had a coworker that decided to host a party at her house. This co-worker invited other co-workers to the party on this particular Friday night. One particular co-worker of mine was invited to the party and went home soon after because she said she was uncomfortable due to the atmosphere and what was taking place. That Monday the co-worker reported it to the senior supervisor and told her everything that took place. On that same day, that co-worker that hosted the party at her house who was not on the clock and also not on company time was terminated.

In my opinion, this previous co-worker was wrongfully terminated and should not have been. My employer acted unethically in this particular case and could have handled the situation differently if they did not agree with the events that took place. My past co-worker had the right to sue for wrongful termination, but it turns out they never did. Since then they have moved on to another job. Not only do you have to be careful with what you say in the workplace, but you have to be careful with what you do and who you surround yourself with in the workplace. 

Both of these particular cases that I have shared I have learned a lot about personal rights whether it be freedom of speech or how I decide to spend my time outside of work. With these two instances I have learned to be consciences of what I say and do because someone might take offense to it or disagree with my opinion then I’m the one who is in trouble. As I share these cases I’m not attempting to paint a negative picture of the company I work for, no company is perfect in any way, but I have learned a lot about my rights as an employee and an individual. The employer I work for is a good company, but I think they can learn and grow in some areas that are needed. 

The last topic I would like to discuss is the Family and Medical Leave Act which my employer also takes part in. According to our textbook, the Family Medical Leave Act is a federal act that guarantees workers up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave in a twelve month period to attend to family and medical emergencies and other certain situations. Medical emergencies or situations consists of the birth of or care for a child, the placement of a child with an employee for adoption or foster care, a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his or her duties, and the care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health issue.

My employer follows the Family and Medical Leave Act, but in order for an employee to be eligible for FMLA they have to be with the company for at least one year. Employee’s can have FMLA due to pregnancy or other personal leave such as educational, military, or other personal reasons. In order for an employee to start their FMLA they need to present a written request to their director or supervisor. Employees must also make arrangements with the Human Resources Department before they begin their leave. Failure to do so may result in cancellation of the employees’ benefits. 

In conclusion, my employer is revamping procedures and policies on how they go about business on a daily basis to better serve their employees and most importantly their patient’s. Employee surveys have been done to get feedback on processes as well as suggestion forms have been put in by other employees so higher management can get some valued input and discuss how to move forward with those suggestions that have been provided. Every company is not perfect and of course mistakes are made. What is important is if those mistakes are realized and addressed. It’s important that employees conduct themselves in a professional way and are always ready to give it their all no matter where or what their job may be. Everyone needs to be held accountably for their actions whether it’s a comment or an event that took place, but discipline and decisions need to be handled the right way and not the wrong way. Discipline and decisions need to occur from a professional stand point and not based off of raw emotion and split-second decisions.

The job I do is great, and it is my goal to always help others in any way I can, but it’s also important for me to feel safe and secure in my job in the workplace. An occupation is supposed to serve others and help one another. Until we realize the mistakes that we make or are held accountable for mistakes or wrong doings then we as individuals will never grow and progress. There is a reason why the employment law is in place and for good reason. It’s to protect individuals from unfairness or mistreatment in the workplace. Everyone should be treated equally and have a secure work environment.