Legal Issues

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 is a labor law that places a responsibility on large employers to provide their employees with a job-protected unpaid leave. This kind of unpaid leave is granted to the employee by the employer in a case where the employee suffers from a serious illness and is therefore not able to perform his or her duties. Job-protected and unpaid leave is also granted to an employee by the employer in a case where the employee needs to care for a sick family member. The family member can be a child, spouse or parent. Another case where the employer is required by FMLA to grant a job-protected unpaid leave to his or her employee is when the employee is going to care for a new born son or daughter. In case of a new child as a result of adoption or foster care, the employer is still required by this act to grant the employee a job-protected unpaid leave (Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division, 2007).

For an employee to qualify for the benefits described by this act, he or she must be employed by an employer with 50 or more employees in his or her business who must be working within a radius of 75 miles. The employer can also be a public agency in which case the 50 employees threshold is not necessary. The other requirement is that the employee should have worked for the employer for 12 months or more and within the last 12 months the employee must have worked for at least 1250 hours. The act grants an employee the job-protected unpaid leave for a maximum of 12 weeks within a year.

According to the act the employer has a responsibility of restoring the employee to the same job position that he or she held before the leave upon returning to work. In case for some reason the previous job position is not available, the employee is entitled to a substantially equal job position in terms of responsibility, pay and other benefits.

This act protects the employees benefits while on job-protected unpaid leave. According to the act the employee should be granted all the benefits which were entitled to him or her before going on the unpaid leave. The act protects the employees rights from any interference or denial by the employer. The employee is also protected from retaliation by the employer because of exercising his or her rights under this act (Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division, 2007).

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970 is an act which places responsibility upon employers to provide their employees with a working environment that is free from recognized hazards. These recognized hazards include exposure to toxic chemicals, mechanical dangers, excessive noise, stress caused by excessive heat or cold and unsanitary conditions (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2006).

The act protects the employee from being discriminated or discharged because of exercising his or her rights under this act. This act protects the employees from unsafe and unhealthy working conditions so as to protect the human resource exploitation. The act requires the employer to keep a record of every non-consumer chemical product used in the workplace in order to protect hisher employees. To further protect the employees, the employer is required to provide in the workplace detailed technical bulletins so that the employees can read ways and methods they can use to avoid chemical hazards.

The act places responsibility upon the employer to protect the employee from a recognized hazard which is described in the act as one that the employer knew or should have known. Such hazards should be obvious or recognized within the industry that the employee is working in. The employer is responsible for protecting his or her employees from a correctable hazard.

In addition, the act places a responsibility upon the employer to comply with all the workplace safety and health standards. It is the responsibility of the employer to make sure that he or she is familiar with the health and safety standard applicable in their establishment. The employer is required by the act to maintain conditions that are reasonably necessary to protect their employees. In this connection, the employer is required to adopt practices that are appropriate for the protection of their employees. The employer should always ensure that his or her employees have and use protective gears and equipments whenever there is a need to do so for the safety and health of the employees. The employer has a responsibility to communicate with his or her employees about a hazard in their workplace.

Under the act, the employers have a responsibility to report to OSHA the death of an employee within eight hours if the employee dies from an incident related to his or her job. In case three or more employees are hospitalized because of an illness or injury that is related to the employers work, the employer is required to report it to OSHA. In case the employee suffers from a fatal heart attack while on the job, the employer should also report such an incident (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2006).