International Labor and Employment Discrimination Law, Research Paper Example

Abstract

This paper analyses international labor and employment discrimination laws that are existent in the world of business and employment. It explains the ethical significance of international labor and employment discrimination law. International labor law and employment discrimination law exist in our societies because, Man is not restricted to work in one country or state or one society alone, instead, he is free to roam and decide where he/she will like to work. During his roaming, he might be discriminated against in different capacities. This is the essence of having protection measure put in place to govern international labor and employment discrimination should it occur to a person when searching for a job or working in any capacity (Hansson, Sven Ove and Elin Palm, eds. 2005).

Further, the paper touches on labor law abroad, employment discrimination outside US, the application of extraterritorial US employment discrimination law and antidiscrimination laws outside the US. It has been argued by many scholars that having in place international labor and employment law establishes recognition of the value of ethics in equal treatment in the job market and breaks away the barriers of cultural differences. Employment discrimination law contains in majority of federal and state statutes. In the statutes, many practices have been identified which are considered discriminatory and are legally prohibited (Hansson, Sven Ove and Elin Palm, eds. 2005). Those practices are work related and they demonstrate discriminate or show employment bias or any kind of employment harassment. Briefly, international labor and employment discriminatory law is a broad topic and is dealt with in detail in this paper.

Introduction

International employment law is one kind of international law. Actually, international law is a body of legal regulations that are applicable among sovereign states and any other entity that has international personality. For example, International Labor Organization (ILO) is the sole entity that is concerned with labor law. The rules and regulations of International laws, define the standards of human conduct and they are separated from the normal moral laws by the fact that a judicial authority that is independent authoritatively interprets them, and are capable of enforcement into law by external sanctions. International labor laws have existed for a long time in history and have been amended every now and again to fit the development of the labor market internationally. on the other hand employment discriminatory laws refers to laws the protect employees against any form of discrimination on the basis of age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation religion, nationality, or many other reasons. Most of the employment labor laws are made from the statutes set up by federal and state ( Basu, Kaushik, et al., eds. 2003).

Federal and state have identified action that are discriminatory in nature and have declared them illegal. Such actions or practices, may include, a demonstration of discriminatory bias in activities related to work. the activities range from, compensation, testing, training and apprenticeship programs, dispensing of fringe benefits, promotions, transfers, recruitment of workers and posting of job openings, retaliation, payment, disability, leave and any kind of job harassment. There exist many federal employment discriminatory laws which are well known to protect employees of all capacities. For example, section VII of the civil rights act set up in 1964 prohibits all kinds of discrimination base on color gender, national background, pregnancy, religion, sex, race and sexual harassment at job. Also the civil rights act of 1991 entitles one to monetary damages incase he/she experiences international employment discrimination ( Basu, Kaushik, et al., eds. 2003). The Age Discrimination Employment Act protects employees with 40 years and above. The America disabilities act (ADA) and rehabilitation act prohibits discrimination against qualified persons with any kind of disability. Pay discrimination related to gender is covered by the Equal pay act (EPA) among many others.

Labor or employment law can be regional, international or bilateral. Despite the category the labor law belong, it comprise of laws, administrative rulings, and statutes, which deals with the legal rights and limitations of employees and their organizations. The rules solve disputes between employees, employers and trade unions. This rules and regulations provide particular procedures needed to scrutinize claims for employment discrimination. Once a person has been discriminated against, he/she should file a discriminatory case with Equal Employment opportunity Commission (EEOC) or Local Fair Employment Practices Agency. Those agencies provide the employee with the rights to sue the employer in the civil courts within a given period. Thus, it means that the period of suing the discriminatory employee is specified and once it expires, the employee is not allowed to put any claim before the court over discrimination of any kind (Grover, Susan, Sandra F. Sperino, and Jarod S. Gonzalez. 2010).

Labor discrimination law in the US

Practices regarding employment discrimination began to be experience in USA a long time ago. Organizations, employers and any service providers discriminated employees on various aspects, which are unbelievable and unreasonable. For instance, discrimination was noted on gender where men were more privileged in employment over women, age, sex, nationality, race etc. in order to counter the rising discriminatory actions to people, the Us federal set up rules that protect employees against discrimination. They need discriminatory practices illegal giving employees rights to seek compensation/damages from the court of law in case they are discriminated against based on any category. American Social History Project (Roy Rosenzweig, et al.). (2007) provides the following acts which were set up to govern employment discrimination particularly in US.

Age discrimination act of 1975

Following the regulations stated under section 6103 of this title and exerts from section 6103(b), and section 6103(c) of this title, no person in the United States, shall be discriminated against because of age to access benefits of any program that receives federal financial support or be exuded from participating in any activity. This regulation applies to all the citizen of the US who has authority to work in the US.

American with disabilities act

The American with disabilities act of 1990 under title I restricts private employers, state and local government, recruitment agencies and labor unions from practicing discriminatory acts against disabled employees with qualifications in job procedures, firing, hiring, compensation, job training, employment privileges, and other job terms and conditions. The act covers employers with more than fifteen employees and above both inn state and local government. Additionally, it applies to recruitment agencies, federal sector employees under section501 of the rehabilitation and labor organization.

The U S employment opportunities commission

EEOC enforces different types of discriminatory laws to employees in different capacities. The act ensures that federal laws that make discrimination against a job applicant or employee illegal are enforced. The act covers discrimination of all kinds ranging from, sex, age, gender, color, sex, disability or generic information. It covers employees who are discriminated because they complained about discrimination, went to court over discrimination or played a part in investigating employment discrimination or proceedings.

Equal pay act of 1963

This act prohibits wage discrimination between male and female employees working in the same establishment and in the same capacity. It was the first fair labor standards act setup in 1938. This act is included in the United States code to protect employees on issues relating to wage pay and sex orientation.

Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964

This act was set up to enforce the constitutional rights to vote, bestow jurisdiction, upon the district law courts to issue an injunctive relief against public employment discrimination, protection against discrimination in programs assisted by the federal government.
Fair labor standards act.

This act provides the minimum wage and overtime employment practices. It mostly affects the private and public employment. The act demands that the employees pay the employees the minimum federal wage pay. Discrimination of any kind over pay is addressed and covered by this act. No employee should be paid less than the federal minimum wage pay.

Other US labor discriminatory laws include;

• pregnancy discrimination
• the genetic information nondiscrimination act of 2008(GINA)
• US Department of Labor

International employment discrimination law

International labor/employment discrimination laws also exist to protect employees who work in the international job market. International labor laws can be traced back to the beginning of the 19^th century. The pioneers of international labor law were Robert own from England, blanquettes and village from France, and Ducepetiaux from Belgium. They are the first people to think of formulation and implementation of international labor law to protect foreign employees against discrimination. In 1840-1855 another industrialist David Legrand from Alsace introduced this idea in a belter systematic manner, defended it and developed it in continuous appeals addressed to the governments of main European countries (Alcock, Antony, 1971).

Towards the end of the 19^th century, almost all the private and public associations had embraced the idea. Several proposals were drafted to create international labor law, globalization and free employment access internationally. In the 2oth century, international labor law was pronounced and applicable in all aspects of employment (Alcock, Antony, 1971).

International employment discrimination law has acts that protect employees against discrimination of any kind. The acts include;

EU Employment, social, and Equal Opportunities

The Amsterdam treat of 1999 article 13, provides the community with specific powers to react to any aspect of discrimination based on sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, or gender. The treaty protects employees internationally and locally.

International labor rights forum (ILRF)

This is an advocacy organization committed to ensuring that employees receive just and humane treatments worldwide. The organization was developed protect millions of workers around the world who toil under inhumane working conditions. It monitors corporations in a globalized economy, who may take the advantage of cheap labor and lack of environmental / community protection to produce consumer goods ranging from electronics to cocoa ( Basu, Kaushik, et al., eds. 2003)..

International labor organization

International labor organization (ILO) is devoted to ensuring that male and female employees are subject to good working conditions internationally. It enforces laws that ensure that workers obtain productive and decent working conditions, equity, security, and human dignity. Additionally, it aims at promoting rights at workplace, encouraging proper employment opportunities, enhancing social protection and strengthening dialogue in handling work related issues.

International movements against all forms of discrimination and racism (IMADR)

IMADR is devoted to eliminate discrimination and racism. It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental human rights organization, which forges international unity among the discriminated and spearheads international human right system.

Foreign laws permitting difficult working conditions

Labor laws provided within the US and internationally are aimed at eliminating or making discrimination against employees based on whatever reason illegal and prosecutable in the court of law. They oppose unfair dismissal as the international labor organization convention no 158 stated that an employee cannot be fired without any legitimate move and before offering him a possibility of defending himself ( Basu, Kaushik, et al., eds. 2003). In addition, the foreign labor laws are anti-discriminatory. This implies that discrimination of employees is morally unacceptable and illegal practice. Child labor is also covered under labor laws. It is the employment of children under the age determined by the law. International organization and many countries deem this act exploitative and hence illegal.

Consequences of participating in illegal hash work conditions.

Participating in illegal harsh work conditions has very stern consequences. Private employers, public employers or employment agencies who involve themselves in discriminatory practices when employing, firing, training or compensating employees, are liable to pay damages of discrimination in case the employee files a lawsuit. Discriminatory actions may result into a firm or company practicing it to be closed down or prohibited from continuing to provide employment services. The cases below reveal the seriousness of discrimination of employee’s against gender, age, sex, race, religion, and harsh working conditions (Bowers, John, et al., 2006).

Ethical considerations of international labor and employment discriminatory law

Labor laws whether international or local considers human ethics and upholds them. they are focused at improving the working conditions of employees such ensuring that, wage pay is normalized among employees working in the same capacity and institution, upholding human dignity, and providing civil rights to every employee in the globe. The laws protect employees against discrimination based on age, race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religion or any other reason (Bowers, John, et al., 2006).

Case studies

In this section, cases are considered which practiced, or are related to employment discrimination law.

• Proposed changes tom Hong-Kong mandatory provident fund schemes.
• US supreme court issues decision on wal-mart sex discrimination –class action law suit

US supreme court on June 20^th 2011 reversed a federal district court case which occurred in 2004. the district court had made the decision of certifying a nationwide class of female employees who alleged sex discrimination in pay and promotion practices in the company under rule 23(b)(2) of the federal rules of civil procedure. The ruling enhanced the decision by 9^th circuit court of appeals in 2010 and a panel of three judges of 9^th circuit in 2007. Both had affirmed in a large part class certification.

The Supreme Court held that the district court had improperly certified the dukes’ class under both rules 23(a) and 23(b) of the federal rules. The panel of for judges differed for quite long but finally they agreed that the court should not have certified the class under rule23 (b)(2)s more specific requirement. This case is an expression of how international labor and discrimination law can be serious.

Human rights says Wal-mart has broken labor laws

Case published by Steven greenhouse Tuesday, May 1, 2007.

This is a case involving human rights and Wal- mart behavior on employees. Wal-mart is an American company which human rights claim has violated federal law and infringed on its workers rights by its efforts to keep out labor unions. Human rights, which were investigating case of human rights abuse in Burundi, reported that when Wal-mart abolished unionization violated labor laws. The final report, about Wal-mart if workers had files over 292cases against Wal-mart where 101 cases were confirmed that indeed w-l mart had violated labor laws.

Nike case on labor discrimination

Between 1980s and 1990s, Nike companies ha a series of labor incidences and public relations nightmares. The company had employed underage workers in plants situated in Indonesia, there were cases of coerced overtime wages in china, and in Vietnam workers were subject to dangerous working conditions, the working conditions were poor until a female worker died in a Nike contracting factory in 1997. This incident had made the labor issues in Nike to hit the mainstream. This case is among the many cases, which led to the introduction of conventions by ILO to curb such incidences from occurring and protect employees against harsh working conditions and especially against discrimination. The ratification of the conventions after the death incident in Nike factory led to the improved labor practices by the company.

GAP case study on international labor law. This case provides the overview of women employment in multinational agribusiness. This case presents women and their need for protection against discrimination on employment grounds. Generally, the case of GAP concerns women and their employment rights. Trough GAP, united nations looked into the women issues of discrimination of multinational cooperation’s and set up guidelines to protect women and help them also be participants in international business and labor providers.

Recommendations

1. More international labor and employment discriminatory laws should be formulated and effected
2. severe punishment to be imposed on employers, recruitment agencies and private organizations that violate law by discriminating employees on the basis of gender, disability, age, sex, race, religion and culture.
3. Employees should be given the right to organize and have collective bargaining in the job market. This will protect employees against anti-union discrimination.
4. Implementation of equal remuneration convention will ensure that workers are paid equitably regardless of their gender. This will abolish discrimination baseon gender .
5. International labor organization should advise developing economies on antidiscrimination through dissemination of information and best practice of the more advanced member states.
6. The international labor organization should help its member states and employees’ and employers’ organizations to address all aspects of discrimination accordingly. This can happen only by the ILO organizing and laying down strategies related to international labor standard and they must be directed towards strengthening the efforts if international labor organization to solve discriminatory aspects.
7. The international labor organization should supervise the performance of each single state in ratifying the ILO conventions of antidiscrimination labor standards and in applying them.
8. ILO should be on the frontline in assessing the participation of women on the ILO events and governing institutions. This will ensure that women are not discriminated against during policy formulation and implementation.
9. The use of affirmative action in ensuring the at all the ILO antidiscrimination laws are implemented and the conventions are ratified. Especially in women discrimination.

Conclusion

International labor and employment discriminatory law forms one of the most important legal relationships among many people. Labor relationships probably serve as primary source of support for people and families, and social relationships, personal fulfillment and personal identity. Without international labor and employment discriminatory laws, employees will be exploited by malicious employers, discriminated and mishandled. Therefore, international labor and employment discriminatory law protects and gives the employees a voice in the labor market.

Reference

Alcock, Antony Evelyn. (1971) History of the International Labour Organisation. London: Macmillan,

American Social History Project (Roy Rosenzweig, et al.). (2007). Who Built America? Working People and the Nation’s History, Vol. 2: 1877 to the Present. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 3^rd ed.,

Basu, Kaushik, et al., eds. (2003) International Labor Standards: History, Theory and Policy Options. Malden, MA: Blackwell,

Bowers, John, et al., (2006) Blackstone’s Employment Law Practice, (2006.) New York: Oxford University Press,

Grover, Susan, Sandra F. Sperino, and Jarod S. Gonzalez. (2010) Employment Discrimination: A Context and Practice Casebook. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press,

Hansson, Sven Ove and Elin Palm, eds. (2005). The Ethics of Workplace Privacy. Brussels: Peter Lang,