Legal Issues

There are some legal requirements that a company should ensure that it follows them the reason is that if it fails to comply with these legal requirements concerning the employees, it will be prosecuted in court and it ends up losing a lot of money which it would not have lost. This paper looks at some issues that arise with the company when it fails to comply with the requirement of the law while dealing with employees. It also looks at some of the principles, laws and statutes that the company should be aware of while in operation.

Legal Encounter 1
The company faces some charges of misconduct because it should have first informed Pat that his work is not efficient before firing him. It should then place him in the correction plan and it is only if he fails to improve that he should be fired. This is not the case with Pat as he is not informed of his inefficiency in the organization. In addition, Pat is also not placed in the corrective action plan. He is just fired without any previous warning. This is a violation of the company rules and regulation and therefore Pat has the right to sue the company for illegal termination. According to the employment contract that Pat signed, the company puts it clear that there should be a certain procedure that should be followed before a person is fired. (Lewis, D.  Sargeant, M., 2004)

Another thing is that while Pat was being hired, he was asked to sign a document that was supposed to present the compliance of the company to The Employment at Will document requirement. This is a legal document that clearly indicates that employees are not allowed to just wake up one morning and decide to fire an employee. They are supposed to give a proper reason as to why they are firing and it should be understandable to the employee. In addition, Pat had figured out that one of the main reason as to why he was fired was out of his concern on the way that the money will be shared. Using this as the basis for his firing can be termed as discrimination. Pat therefore has the right to sue the company in court for discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act clearly states that employee should not be discriminated in any way be it through their sex, race, and age and so on. (Benjamin, 2007)

Legal Encounter 2
The company has a liability of losing a good worker out of misconduct by some of its workers such as Sam. In addition, the company may be taken to court by Paula for failing to protect its employees from sexual harassment by the top officials in the organization. From the time Sam and Paula stopped seeing each other Sam started complaining about Paulas efficiency. It is clear that there is sexual harassment that takes on Paula. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act clearly puts it that it is illegal for any employee to make unwelcome sexual advances to another person. This is termed as sexual harassment and should be reported to the authorities. (The City Law School, 2009)

In this case therefore, Paula should report the case to the top management of the company. Once it is reported, the company should look into the issue and summon Sam. He should be made to understand that whatever he is doing is illegal according to the company policies. Sexual harassment is highly prohibited in the work place. They should also look into it the issue and realize that the main reason why Sam is suggesting that Paula should not be transferred is due to his personal gains. They should give Sam a warning and place him under the corrective action plan. If he continues with this unethical behavior, he should be fired. Alternatively, Paula should resign from the company and then sue Sam for sexual harassment which is a violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. (Benjamin, 2007)

Legal Encounter 3
Under the Federal Employee Compensation Act which is commonly referred to as FECA, the employee has the right to be compensated for the injury that has taken place while at the place of work. The company should therefore be aware of the existence of this act and therefore be ready to compensate the employee accordingly. In addition, it should ensure that the space is enlarged so as to prevent any other incident that may take place on the same issue. The company should be aware the Paul will follow the legal process that is supposed to be followed so that he can be compensated. (Civilian Personnel Management Service, 2010)
The company should also be aware that it can be charge in court by the Occupation Safety and Health Administration for non compliance. This is a body that ensures that the entire working environment is fine and safe for human beings or employees to work. This body may prosecute the company in court and the company faces stiff fines if it is found guilty of this offence. (Chemerinsky, 2006)

In conclusion, while the company is in operation, there are a lot of legal requirements that it is supposed to be fully aware of. This is the only way that it will be able to operate in harmony and at the same time avoid may legal issue that are known to waste a lot of companys time and resources.