Legal Equivalents of FLSA, Assessment Example

The Fair Labor Standards ACT (FLSA) is designed to protect the rights of workers in the United States. Under this law, workers in most industries are provided with basic workers’ rights, including overtime pay, minimum wages, child labor Protections, and the enforcement of the Equal Pay Act. In the United States, overtime pay is considered to be 40 hours or more of work (FLSA, 2015). Since many countries value the rights of their workers and the concept that workers’ rights should be defended by the government, many nations have implemented equivalents of the FLSA protect to protect their workers. England is once such country that has implemented an equivalency program. However, it is apparent that both countries place an emphasis on workers’ rights.

Regulations regarding wages, hours, and conditions, similar to FLSA

While the United States is afforded fair labor protections under one law, the residents of England receive the same rights that this legislation affords, although it is categorized under a series of related laws and acts designed to improve upon the treatment of workers in the country. One such piece of legislation is the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, which created a minimum wage of 6.50 pounds for workers over the age of 21 (Simpson, 1999). Interestingly, this legislation passed 60 years following the implementation of the FLSA in the United States. An additional law that overlaps requirements of the FLSA is the Working Time Regulations 1998, which indicate how frequently individuals should and should not work within the United Kingdom. This legislation was created in accordance with the EU Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC, to set requirements that workers cannot be required to work more than 48 hours per week unless they personally decide to opt out of this limitation. In addition, these laws dictate the lengths of breaks that are required for certain period of work; specifically, workers that work at least a 6 hour shift have the right to a 20 minute resting period. The legislation also requires that workers receive paid annual leave of 28 days, which includes holidays and other general vacation days. This law is similar to the overtime protections granted by the FLSA because it ensures that employees will not have to work more than a certain amount of time in a week. However, the English law approaches this protection differently. In the United States, overtime pay must occur after 40 hours because this is seen as extra. Furthermore, employers are discouraged from keeping their employees at work for longer than this time unless this work is absolutely necessary due to the financial constraints that this imposes. The English law does not specify overtime pay, but mandates that employees do not work more than 48 hours a week unless they agree to do so. Therefore, both laws allow for similar protections, but accomplish these protections differently.

Laws against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

The primary law that protects individuals against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in England is the Equality Act 2010 (UK Legislation, 2010). This law includes protection against discrimination in both education and the workplace. Interestingly, this legislation also protects against gender reassignment discrimination, which is not a present component of the United States equivalent. It is possible that the United States government will amend this law to include this protection in the future. Ultimately, the English equivalent of this protection appears to be more inclusive.

Management of hazardous wastes, from origin to disposal

In the United Kingdom, there are a variety of laws that describe the management of hazardous wastes, from origin to disposal. The most essential legislation is Environment Act 1995 because it requires the national and local governments to prepare a national waste strategy that describes this process. Furthermore, it defines the roles of politicians and agencies in enforcing these practices. This law is analogous to the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) implemented in the United States. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for enforcing this legislation and proposing new ideas for legislation should the need arise. Therefore, these environmental regulatory systems work similarly in both countries.

Product liability laws

The Consumer Protection Act is the legislation responsible for establishing product liability laws. Under this act, “if a product or any of its component parts are defective its manufacturer may be liable for damage under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) or the common law of negligence” (Out Law, 2011). Therefore it is necessary for English businesses to implement quality control practices to ensure that the safety needs of their customers are met. In the United States, the laws that protect consumer rights are mainly based off of case law. As such, individual cases must be analyzed carefully to determine whether manufacturer negligence was the potential cause of injury. It is therefore essential for manufacturers to have a good understanding of the law, because there is a more indirect enforcement of these practices in the United States compared to the consumer protections that exist in the United Kingdom. It is interesting to understand the differences between these laws because legislators can use the successes and failures of the laws in these respective nations to determine the ideas that would work best for them.

References

FLSA. (2015). Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Retrieved from http://www.flsa.com/flsa.html

Out Law. (2011). Product liability under the Consumer Protection Act. Retrieved from   http://www.out-law.com/en/topics/commercial/supply-of-goods-and-services/product-liability-under-the-consumer-protection-act/

Simpson B. (1999). A Milestone in the Legal Regulation of Pay. ILJ, 1: 17-18.

UK Legislation. (2010). Equality Act 2010. Retrieved from           http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents