Main leading principles of labour law: concepts and classification

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The system of labour law

1.nature

2.development of labor law

3.elements of labor law

4.principles of labor law

5.sources of labor law

6.subject

7.contemporary tendencies

2.The concept, subject matter and features of labour law

Labour law is a branch of civil law which regulates the relationship between employees and employers and defines their rights and obligations in the workplace

The basic subject matter of labour law can be considered under nine broad heads: employment; individual employment relationships; wages and remuneration; conditions of work; health, safety, and welfare; social security; trade unions and industrial relations; the administration of labour law; and special provisions for particular occupational or other groups.

The basic feature of labour law in almost every country is that the rights and obligations of the worker and the employer are mediated through a contract of employment between the two. This has been the case since the collapse of feudalism. Many contract terms and conditions are covered by legislation or common law. In the U.S. for example, the majority of state laws allow for employment to be "at will", meaning the employer can terminate an employee from a position for any reason, so long as the reason is not explicitly prohibited

Main leading principles of labour law: concepts and classification

· Public benefit

· Protection from discrimination’

Labor laws generally protect employees from unlawful discrimination. This means that businesses cannot discriminate in hiring practices, promotions or firing of employees. Businesses also cannot discriminate based on race, ethnicity, sex, religion or nation of origin. These are called protected classes. Some states also protect against discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation and gender identification.

· Equal protection of the laws

· Compensation

The Fair Labor Standards Act is federal legislation that applies to most employees in the United States. This law says that employees must generally be paid a minimum wage (depending on the state in which they live). It also requires that employees who are employed on an hourly basis be paid overtime pay (time and a half) if they work more than 40 hours per week. These rules vary slightly by state and by industry. For example, servers in restaurants may be paid much less than the minimum hourly wage but are compensated through tips and service charges to make up the difference. Some states also have a minimum wage that is higher than the one set by the federal government.

· Labour unions

The development of labor unions has changed the way that employees deal with their employers. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 is federal legislation that requires businesses that hire members of unions to meet with union representatives to negotiate on wages, working hours, and workplace conditions.

Basic sources of labour law: general characteristics

The basic sources of labour law are federal and state constitutions(a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed), labour code (a codification of labor laws in legislative form.), legislation (is law which has been promulgated (or "enacted") by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it), administrative rules and court opinions.

What are my legal rights?

Under the Equality Act 2010 it's unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you because of your sex. Sex discrimination law covers almost all workers (men and women) and all types of organisations in the UK. It covers:

Recruitment
Employment terms and conditions
Pay and benefits
Training
Promotion and transfer opportunities
Redundancy
Dismissal

The Employment Act 2002 promoted flexible working. Parents of children under five have the right to ask for flexible working and their employer must consider such requests seriously, although they do not have to be granted.

To enforce the laws against discrimination, complainants must take their cases to Employment Tribunals. Anyone considering making a claim needs to gain advice and representation from bodies such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Citizens Advice Bureaux, trades unions and law centres..

17) The concept of social security.

Social security is a concept enshrined in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignityand the free development of his personality. In simple terms, the signatories agree that society in which a person lives should help them to develop and to make the most of all the advantages (culture, work, social welfare) which are offered to them in the country.^[1]

Social security may also refer to the action programs of government intended to promote the welfare of the population through assistance measures guaranteeing access to sufficient resources for food and shelter and to promote health and well-being for the population at large and potentially vulnerable segments such as children, the elderly, the sick and the unemployed. Services providing social security are often called social services.

Terminology in this area in the United States is somewhat different to that in the rest of the English-speaking world. The general term for an action program in support of the well being of the population in the United States is welfare program and the general term for all such programs is simply welfare. In American society, the term welfare arguably has negative connotations. The term Social Security, in the United States, refers to a specific social insurance program for the retired and the disabled.

Social security may refer to:

social insurance, where people receive benefits or services in recognition of contributions to an insurance program. These services typically include provision for retirementpensions, disability insurance, survivor benefits and unemployment insurance.
services provided by government or designated agencies responsible for social security provision. In different countries, that may include medical care, financial support during unemployment, sickness, or retirement, health and safety at work, aspects of social work and even industrial relations.
basic security irrespective of participation in specific insurance programs where eligibility may otherwise be an issue. For instance assistance given to newly arrived refugees for basic necessities such as food, clothing, housing, education, money, and medical care.

18) The making, modification and termination of employment relations.

other groups.

Employment considered as a basic concept and category of labour law is a relatively recent development. Prior to the Great Depression and World War II the emphasis was upon the prevention or reduction of excessive unemployment rather than upon long-term employment policy as part of a comprehensive scheme to promote economic stability and growth. The new approach, arising from changes in political outlook and contemporary economic thought, has increasingly found expression in legal provisions that establish the creation of employment opportunities as a general objective of policy. To this end, legislation has established the necessary legal framework for the forecasting of manpower needs and availability and the provision of employment services including placement, recruitment, vocational training, and apprenticeship. Freedom from forced labour, equality of treatment in employment and occupation, and unemployment benefits may, in a broad sense, be regarded as part of the same general subject.

Wages and remuneration

The substantive law on wages and remuneration covers such elements as forms and methods of payment, the protection of wages against unlawful deductions and other abuses, minimum wagearrangements, the determination of wages, fringe benefits, and, in highly sophisticated economies, incomes policies. The concept of wage regulation as a restraint upon extreme social evils has gradually been superseded by wage policies as deliberate instruments of positive management designed to promote economic stability and growth.

Legal requirements concerning the forms of wages and methods of wage payment deal with such matters as the proper notification of wage conditions, the payment of wages in legal tender or by check, the limitation and proper valuation of payments in kind, the freedom of the worker to dispose of his wages, regularity in wage payments, the treatment of wages as a privileged, or secured, debt, and restrictions upon the attachment or assignment of wages.

19) Occupational health and accident prevention regulations.

Accident prevention regulations

The Accident Prevention Regulations represent binding occupational health and safety obligations for every company and insured person.

facilities, instructions and measures which the employers have to implement to prevent accidents at work, occupational diseases and occupational risks to health, and the form of transfer of these tasks to other persons,

the insured persons to prevent accidents at works, occupational diseases and occupational risks to health,

medical examinations to be organised by the company and other medical measures, during and after the carrying out of the work, which is associated with occupational risks to life and health for the insured persons or for third parties,

prerequisites which the doctor engaged with the investigations or measures according to number 3 has to fulfil if the medical investigation is not provided for by a legal regulation,

ensuring effective first aid by the employer,

the measures which the employer must take to fulfil the obligations resulting from the law concerning company doctors, safety engineers and other experts for occupational safety,

the number of safety representatives to be appointed according to § 22 taking into account the number of occupational risks to life and health for the insured persons in the company and the number of employees.

In the accident prevention regulations according to Sentence 1 No. 3, it is possible to specify that occupational health examinations can also be arranged by the statutory accident insurers.

The "Berufsgenossenschaften" call the accident regulations issued by them "employers' and professional liability association's regulations for health and safety at work"