Taslim Ahammad :
Despite the importance of having stable employment, it is equally important for employers to respect the rights of their employees, especially those rights guaranteed by the laws. Employment rights cover all privileges and obligations within the employer and employee relationship, including not only current employees but also former employees and job applicants as well. Many of the legal disputes involves at work are related to employee rights.
A right is the capability to legally engage in behaviour that is protected by law or social authorisation, free from interfering by others. Employees have certain rights that cannot be affected with by employers, regardless of their position in the company or the size of the employer. Employee rights can be secure by the country law, by public policy, or by contract.
Employee rights are a wide term used to define the range of legal protections that are afforded to individuals and groups that are in the employ of business organisations. Employee rights can be broken down into some primary categories: rights relating to labour union organising and collective bargaining; rights relating to working hours and pay; rights relating to workplace safety and workers’ compensation; and rights relating to discrimination in hiring or in the workplace. Fundamental employee rights are thus an important factor in a wide range of human resource management issues in business owners and supervisors face today, including questions concerning employee privacy, promotion policies, investigations, compilation and upkeep of personnel records and files, monitoring of employee performance, and interactions with labour unions and their members.
Employee rights includes: Discrimination -Discrimination violations against protected persons rights maybe on the basis of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, pregnancy and marital status. Sexual Harassment -Winning recovery against all forms of sexual or gender harassment, and harassment due to sexual orientation, religion, or race. Wrongful termination and employer retaliation – Need to represent employees for violations of employment process rights, inappropriate termination, and all forms of employer retaliation. Wage and hours disputes – Need to helping employees’ disputes regarding unpaid wages, missed wages, minimum wage, commissions, bonuses, meal and rest breaks, equity and other kinds of compensation disputes. Job protection – Employee rights defined as the ability to receive fair treatment from employers. This section will discuss employee rights surrounding job protection and privacy. Safe working conditions -The promotion and maintenance of the health, safety and good working conditions of its employees and work-seekers supplied or introduced to client employers are a priority. Authority for all manufacturing facilities and other workplaces must have the ability to levy large fines for unsafe work environments.
Equal opportunities -Must not discriminate for any reason whatsoever in the workplace. Recruit employees and provides recruitment services to work seekers registered with it by reference to their skills, qualifications and experience and treats them with dignity. It does not discriminate on the basis of age, social origin, family situation, gender, sexual orientation, disability, political, trade union or religious opinions, ethnic origin, country, or race in compliance with ILO Convention No. 111. Right to training – Company should provide everyone of its employees, throughout their entire career with the company, regardless of their age and position, with the training necessary to properly perform their job and build a career. Freedom of Association – The ILO declare on the fundamental rights and principles at work adopted in 1998 at the 86th International Labour Conference with respect to freedom of association. Disability – The people with disabilities employee rights prohibits employee from discriminating against workers who are qualified for a job, and who only require reasonable accommodations for their disability. Family medical leave – Employee rights allow employees to take paid and unpaid leave for approved purposes, which include birth, adoption, or fostering a child, care giving. Personal property privacy rights – Some places provide privacy rights to employees. Depending on how the rule is written, employer may not be able to open or search employees’ private property, such as a briefcase, backpack or purse. However, country’s laws can be hazier on other types of privacy, however: You may not have privacy rights when it comes to phone calls or voicemail. In addition, activities that takes place over your employer’s networks, such as web browsing and email usage, is generally not protected under state privacy laws.
Most of the employees are not fully aware of the employee rights in the workplace and the laws that are in place to protect them. Always address questions about employee rights in the workplace to your company’s Human Resources office. If they do not have the answers that you are looking for, try the Department of Labour Office near you.
If employee feel that any violation is made, taking extensive notes and keeping records is one of the key tips to protecting employee rights at workplace. Remember to take any questions to employees’ supervisor and discuss them without fear of retribution. Understand the rights are in place to prevent abuses by those in force, and every employee must realise these rights and ensure that they are not violated.
(Taslim Ahammad, Assistant Professor, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj)
Despite the importance of having stable employment, it is equally important for employers to respect the rights of their employees, especially those rights guaranteed by the laws. Employment rights cover all privileges and obligations within the employer and employee relationship, including not only current employees but also former employees and job applicants as well. Many of the legal disputes involves at work are related to employee rights.
A right is the capability to legally engage in behaviour that is protected by law or social authorisation, free from interfering by others. Employees have certain rights that cannot be affected with by employers, regardless of their position in the company or the size of the employer. Employee rights can be secure by the country law, by public policy, or by contract.
Employee rights are a wide term used to define the range of legal protections that are afforded to individuals and groups that are in the employ of business organisations. Employee rights can be broken down into some primary categories: rights relating to labour union organising and collective bargaining; rights relating to working hours and pay; rights relating to workplace safety and workers’ compensation; and rights relating to discrimination in hiring or in the workplace. Fundamental employee rights are thus an important factor in a wide range of human resource management issues in business owners and supervisors face today, including questions concerning employee privacy, promotion policies, investigations, compilation and upkeep of personnel records and files, monitoring of employee performance, and interactions with labour unions and their members.
Employee rights includes: Discrimination -Discrimination violations against protected persons rights maybe on the basis of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, pregnancy and marital status. Sexual Harassment -Winning recovery against all forms of sexual or gender harassment, and harassment due to sexual orientation, religion, or race. Wrongful termination and employer retaliation – Need to represent employees for violations of employment process rights, inappropriate termination, and all forms of employer retaliation. Wage and hours disputes – Need to helping employees’ disputes regarding unpaid wages, missed wages, minimum wage, commissions, bonuses, meal and rest breaks, equity and other kinds of compensation disputes. Job protection – Employee rights defined as the ability to receive fair treatment from employers. This section will discuss employee rights surrounding job protection and privacy. Safe working conditions -The promotion and maintenance of the health, safety and good working conditions of its employees and work-seekers supplied or introduced to client employers are a priority. Authority for all manufacturing facilities and other workplaces must have the ability to levy large fines for unsafe work environments.
Equal opportunities -Must not discriminate for any reason whatsoever in the workplace. Recruit employees and provides recruitment services to work seekers registered with it by reference to their skills, qualifications and experience and treats them with dignity. It does not discriminate on the basis of age, social origin, family situation, gender, sexual orientation, disability, political, trade union or religious opinions, ethnic origin, country, or race in compliance with ILO Convention No. 111. Right to training – Company should provide everyone of its employees, throughout their entire career with the company, regardless of their age and position, with the training necessary to properly perform their job and build a career. Freedom of Association – The ILO declare on the fundamental rights and principles at work adopted in 1998 at the 86th International Labour Conference with respect to freedom of association. Disability – The people with disabilities employee rights prohibits employee from discriminating against workers who are qualified for a job, and who only require reasonable accommodations for their disability. Family medical leave – Employee rights allow employees to take paid and unpaid leave for approved purposes, which include birth, adoption, or fostering a child, care giving. Personal property privacy rights – Some places provide privacy rights to employees. Depending on how the rule is written, employer may not be able to open or search employees’ private property, such as a briefcase, backpack or purse. However, country’s laws can be hazier on other types of privacy, however: You may not have privacy rights when it comes to phone calls or voicemail. In addition, activities that takes place over your employer’s networks, such as web browsing and email usage, is generally not protected under state privacy laws.
Most of the employees are not fully aware of the employee rights in the workplace and the laws that are in place to protect them. Always address questions about employee rights in the workplace to your company’s Human Resources office. If they do not have the answers that you are looking for, try the Department of Labour Office near you.
If employee feel that any violation is made, taking extensive notes and keeping records is one of the key tips to protecting employee rights at workplace. Remember to take any questions to employees’ supervisor and discuss them without fear of retribution. Understand the rights are in place to prevent abuses by those in force, and every employee must realise these rights and ensure that they are not violated.
(Taslim Ahammad, Assistant Professor, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj)
