Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that examines the effect of legal, safety, and regulatory requirements on the human resources process. Your paper should focus on employee-related regulations established by the United States, such as the Department of Labor, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Department of Homeland Security. “Common sense and compassion in the workplace have been replaced by litigation.” With each passing year, the additional number of litigations being formulated and implemented at the workplace keeps validating this statement’s truth. In recent years, courts have seen an increase in employees who have sued their former employers and claimed huge amounts of money as compensation. As a result, employers have come up with various sets of regulations and laws that employees have to follow. Thus, the responsibility falls on human resources department to come up with these regulations and then enforce them. Human resource processes no longer require the heads to come up with decisions that make sense or show empathy towards employees but are rather more about ensuring the already set regulations are followed. These regulations are related to workplace relations, salaries, and the work to be done itself. Human resource officers are expected to act with fewer emotions but instead adopt a more practical approach. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 discourages employers from excluding a candidate who has all the job qualifications because they are disabled. The employer must ensure that the individual with a disability is aided to be comfortable at the workplace as long as the adjustments made do not result in any difficulties in work operations (Mejia, L, Balkin, & Cardy, 2020) . An employer should also not disqualify any candidate because they are related to, or associated with anyone with a disability. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission helps enforce litigation passed by federal governments to prevent harassment and employee discrimination in the workplace. The discrimination laws enforced include: no employee should be discriminated due to their age, race, color, religious beliefs, sex, nationality, pregnancy condition, disability, or genetic information. The commission also ensures there is no disparity in wages between men and women who perform the same work roles. All these laws have been passed over time to ensure employees do not get exploited (Freeman, 2015) . These laws contribute greatly to how human resource processes are carried out. When equal opportunities are afforded to all employees, the employers will consider the most qualified employees who possess the requisite knowledge and skillset in the event of an opportunity. This ensures the best person is chosen for the job. The employees will also notice the fair and equal opportunities on offer to each one of them. Thus, they will be satisfied and motivated, making them more committed to their work and increasing their loyalty to their employers. When diversity is embraced, the employees can learn from each other’s culture, leading to increased knowledge and experience. Litigation also provides a guideline to employees about the kind of behavior that is expected at the workplace. A company with many employees will have individuals with different personal values, attitudes towards life, and living styles. Litigation thus provides a standard of behavior to be expected from each employee, regardless of their background. For a firm that is recruiting new employees, offering equal opportunities to the candidates will ensure that the right employee is hired for the job. The firm also avoids or decreases the chances of facing case after case in law courts. These lawsuits can be quite expensive and use up a substantial chunk of a firm’s budget. A firm is also able to build a diverse, multicultural workforce by offering equal opportunities during recruitment. Such a workforce will provide many benefits to the firm, such as high creativity levels. Firms that find themselves in trouble for breaking any employment and human resource laws risk losing revenue occasioned by a decrease in the number of customers and also risk having employees who are not loyal. Employees who are not loyal may be engaged in fraudulent activities at work. |
