Читать книгу Employment Law Update - Jonathan Ingber - Страница 8

Employment laws in the United States consist of federal laws that apply throughout the country, as well as state laws that sometimes are consistent or may vary from state to state. Our employment laws developed in response to a variety of factors, including media exposés of unsafe or poor working conditions,³ societal changes, and perceptions that employers may have taken advantage of workers or failed to compensate them fairly. Many employment laws are intended to “level the playing field” among job applicants, employees with similar skill sets and work performance, and persons of different races, genders, religious beliefs, and other attributes. One constant in employment law is change; that is, as our society's values and beliefs evolve, employment law is often revamped in reaction to those changes. For this reason, employment is a dynamic⁴ area of the law that calls for financial officers and managers to understand recent developments and anticipate the impact of identifiable trends.

In addition to applicable employment laws, the courts also have acted to protect employees from unscrupulous employers. Over time, the courts developed “public policy” rights that are important bulwarks against wrongful actions by employers. Sometimes public policy rights are set forth in employment laws, while in other instances the courts or the EEOC have issued decisions that define or expand public policy⁵ rights. The following are examples of public policy rights that the courts or the EEOC have enforced, even for employees who are employed “at will”⁶ and who can be terminated at any time for any reason or no reason at all: