Employee Safety, Health and Welfare Law Paper

Employee Safety, Health and Welfare Law Paper
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) are two pieces of legislation passed to protect employee’s rights and their families. The purpose of this paper is first to explain the application and implication of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Worker’s Compensation Occupational and Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and the regulatory laws implemented by my organization in order to adhere to these mandates, while providing the employee with a safe working environment. In addition, the paper will examine the responsibilities that employer has under the law and what protection the law provide for employees.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Family and Medical Leave Act was signed by President Bill Clinton on February 3, 1993.The ct was enacted because employees with family emergencies could not take time off without most likely losing their job. The FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons, including serious health conditions that prevent the employee from working. Not only has the FMLA evolved over the years, but also the current application in the workplace environment is very complex for the employee as well as the employer.
FMLA covers private sector employers that employ 50 or more individuals within 75 miles radius. Public employers are covered under FMLA regardless how many workers they employ. The FMLA requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for childbirth or care of a child, adoption, their own serious illness or that of a close family member. To be eligible for FMLA, the employee needs to be working for at least 12 months prior to the beginning of the leave for their employer. However, those 12 months do not need to be consecutive (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). Employer can require the employee to take their vacation before applying for their leave of absence; however, the employer must pay for their vacation as they would normally would. When both member of the family work for the same employer, they can be restricted to 12 weeks leave of absence per year. In addition, the employer can ask employee for medical confirmation of an illness (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007).
Upon returning from FMLA leave, the employee is entitled to be returned to his previous position that he had held before his leave. If the position is no longer available, he or she is entitled to one that is virtually identical to the former position in terms of pay, work environment, status and benefits. In addition, the leave must not be held against the employee in other ways, including when it comes to promotion or annual review.
Worker’s compensation Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) Although, the company I work for do not abide by FMLA Act due to its size, under 50 employees, they are complying with OSHA’s regulations. The Occupational Safety and Health Act's mission is to assure the safety and health of American workers by setting and enforcing standards, providing training, education; and encouraging continual improvement in workplace safety and health. OSHA covers an extremely wide array of workers, from construction workers to office workers. However when the act was first passed it was not heavily enforced and lacked inspectors (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). OSHA states that each employer is required to follow OSHA's requirements. There are two requirements that the act imposes on employers to accomplish a safer workplace. First the employer must comply with all of the safety and health standards dictated by the department of Labor, this is most often called the "compliance" requirements. Second, the employer must give each of its employee employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or physical harm. This is a very broad requirement and is often referred to as the "general duty" clause (Bennett, Alexander, & Hartman, 2003).
What are employers' responsibilities under the law?

Under each of the above laws, the FMLA and OSHA Acts, employer has the responsibility to ensure that each polices covered under the acts are being adhered to. Under the law for the Family Medical Leave, the employer must maintain the employees’ benefits while the employee is on leave. The employer is not able to deny the employee the right to apply for his or her leave and they shall not discriminate or discharge an employee against the Family Medical Leave. Under OSHA Act, the employer must comply with all OSHA’s regulation, provide employees with a safe work place and continuously train their employees in connection with the communication of workplace hazards. Furthermore, when an employee is hired or transferred into a new position, even for just a day, the employer is required to provide safety training to that employee (Bennett, Alexander, & Hartman, 2003).
What protections does the law provide for employees? Under the FMLA an employee is entitled to return to the same position and if not available then one that is equivalent to his or her position. Complaints may be filed with the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department, or the employee can file a lawsuit if he or she feels the employer violated the act (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007)
The law was enacted to allow employees to take a necessary leave without the fear of termination or retaliation from his or her employer. Consequently, this is not a guarantee of protection for an employee who has an attendance problem not related to reasons covered under the act. The employer still has the right to terminate the employee upon return for non-related attendance problems without fear of being in violation of the law. An employee has the right to contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the backing of the Department of Labor to report a dangerous condition. The administration provides for inspections of the workplace by OSHA compliance officers, because of either complaints from employees, grievances filed by other sources, or reports of fatal or multiple injuries. Routine inspections in certain high-risk industries are also conducted by the officers.

Reference
Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2007). Employment Law for Business (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.