International labor laws
International labor laws are a broad set of rules spanning public and private international law
relating to the rights and duties of employees, employers, trade unions, and
governments in regulating the workplace. The International Labor Organization
and the World Trade Organization are the main international organizations
involved in labor market reform. The International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank have indirectly changed labor policy by demanding structural adjustment
conditions for borrowing or granting. Problems with conflict of law arise, as
determined by national courts when people work in more than one country, and
especially in EU law, there are growing rules regarding the labor rights of
super-national companies.
Although
the existence of international labor standards does not necessarily imply an
implementation or enforcement process, formal contracts, and agreements from
international organizations have been used in most cases in the real world. The primary international organization accused of improving the quality of work is
the International Labor Organization. Founded in 1919, the ILO upholds
international standards as essential to the elimination of labor conditions
involving "injustice, suffering, and privacy." According to the ILO,
international labor standards contribute to the prospect of lasting peace,
mitigate the potential adverse effects of international market competition, and
contribute to the advancement of international development.
History
The idea of protecting workers from the dangers of the labor environment dates
back to 14th-century Europe. The first examples of the modern labor rights
movement, however, came in response to the harsh working conditions, including
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. In
1802, the UK Parliament passed what is now known as the English Factory Act.
The law seeks to limit apprentices' working days to 12 hours a day. In doing
so, the English Factory Act has served as a precursor to the models of
international labor standards seen today. Minimal regulations similar to
English law later became increasingly common among the industrialized nations
of the 19th century. The scope of the initial effort to provide labor standards
was limited, however. Such conventions focused primarily on improving the
working conditions of working women, children, and the use of hazardous
materials. Although it was clear that support for workers' rights was
inconsistent across international borders, workers largely used only moral
support to address differences in labor standards. Until the end of the
nineteenth century, no attempt was made to implement uniform standards
internationally.
Principles of Labor Law in All Countries
Employment terms
A fundamental feature of labor law in almost every country is that the rights and
obligations of both workers and employers are mediated through employment
contracts. This has been the case since the fall of feudalism. Many contract
terms are covered by law or common law. In the United States, for example, most
state laws allow employment "voluntarily", which means that the employer can terminate the employee for any reason unless the reason is
explicitly prohibited and, conversely, the employee can leave at any time, for any
reason, and notice no need to pay.
Minimum wage
In
different countries, the minimum wage is regulated and set by clear laws. In Sweden, the minimum wage is negotiated between the labor market parties through
a joint agreement that also covers non-union workers in the workplace through a
joint agreement. There is no minimum wage in the workplace without a joint
contract. Non-organized employers can sign alternative agreements directly with
trade unions but far from all. The Swedish case explains that countries without
statutory control will be part of the labor market, they do not control the
minimum wage, because self-regulation only applies to workers in the workplace
and under joint contracts. The National Minimum Wage Act was first introduced
in the United States in 1938, in Brazil in 1940, in India in 1948, in France in
1950, and in the United Kingdom in 1998. Of the 28 members of the European
Union, 18 countries have a minimum wage in 2011.
Living wages
Living
wages are higher than the minimum wage and are designed so that full-time
workers can support themselves and a small family at that wage.
Hours
The maximum number of hours worked or other time intervals are determined by law in
many countries. Such laws regulate whether workers who work long hours have to
pay extra compensation. Before the Industrial Revolution, working days varied
from 11 to 14 hours. With the development of industrialization and the
introduction of machinery, long periods became much more common, reaching up to
16 hours per day. The eight-hour movement marked the beginning of the first law
in England with a length of one working day passed in 1833. It limits mining to
12 hours and children to 8 hours. The 10-hour day was established in 1848, and
short periods of the same pay were gradually adopted thereafter. 1802
Factory Act was the first labor law in the United Kingdom.
Occupational safety and health
The goal of an occupational safety and health program is to build a safe and
healthy occupational environment. OSH also protects all members of the public
who may be affected by the professional environment. Worldwide, more than 2.78
million people die from work-related accidents or diseases, with one death
every fifteen seconds. There are an additional 374 million non-fatal action-related
injuries annually. It is estimated that the economic burden of
occupational-related injuries and deaths is about four percent of the global gross
domestic product per year. People are worth a lot for this adversity.
Discrimination
Such
laws prohibit discrimination against workers as morally unacceptable and
illegal, especially racial discrimination or gender discrimination.
Dismissal
Under
labor law, unfair dismissal is an act of termination of employment that is
done without a valid reason or contrary to certain laws of the country. By law,
wrongful dismissal is a situation where an employee's employment contract has
been revoked by the employer, where one or more terms of the employment contract are violated or the provisions or rules of the Employment Act are
violated. Laws governing unjust dismissals vary according to the terms of the
employment contract, as well as under the law and the public policy of
jurisdiction.
Child labor
"Abolish child slavery!!" Two girls carrying banners in Yiddish and English with the slogan at the 1909 International Workers' Day parade in New York City. Child labor has not been seen as a problem throughout much of history, only the introduction of universal schooling and conflicts with the notion of the rights of workers and children. Often there was the use of child labor in factories. In England and Scotland in 1788, about two-thirds of the people working in the hydroelectric textile factory were children. Child labor can be factory work, digging or digging, agriculture, helping a parent in a business, running a small business, or doing weird things. Children act as guides for tourists, sometimes bringing business to shops and restaurants.
International labor laws by country
European labor law
European labor law regulates the basic transnational
standards of employment and participation in the workplace in the European
Union and countries that comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.
European labor law is seen as a pillar of the "European social model"
to establish a regulatory level in the competition for employment-generating
investments within the Union and promote a degree of employee consultation in
the workplace. Despite the wide variation in employment protection and related
welfare provisions within member states, a contradiction is usually drawn with
the situation in the United States.
The
European Union, under the Convention on the Effectiveness of the European
Union, may use common legal procedures in the list of areas of labor law under
Article 153 (1). This significantly eliminates wage control and collective
bargaining. The four main areas of regulation of labor rights in the EU include
(1) the right to individual labor, (2) anti-discrimination regulations, (3) the
right to information, the right to consult and participate in the workplace,
and (4) the right to job security. In virtually all cases, the EU follows the
principle that member states can always create more beneficial rights for
workers.
U.S. labor law
The U.S.
labor law defines the rights and duties of employees, trade unions, and
employers in the United States. The main goal of the Labor law is to resolve
the “bargaining power inequality” between employees and employers, especially
employers “organized in other forms of corporate or ownership associations”. In
the twentieth century, federal law created minimum social and economic rights
and encouraged state laws to exceed the minimum in favor of workers. The Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 required a federal minimum wage, currently $ 7.25
but higher in 28 states, and discouraged working 40 hours a week with one and a
half overtime pay. There are no federal laws that require paid leave or family
leave, and limited state laws. The Family and Medical Vacation Act of 1993
created a limited right to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for larger employers. There
is no automatic right to a professional pension outside of federally guaranteed
social security, but the Employees Retirement Income Protection Act of 1974
requires prudent management and good governance standards if employers agree to
pay pensions, health plans, or other benefits. The Occupational Safety and The Health Act of the 1970s requires staff to have a safe work system.
Australian labor law
Australian
labor law relates to the common law relating to the rights and duties of
workers, unions, and employers in the Commonwealth, the states, and Australia.
Australian labor law has a dual framework, where some employment issues and
relationships are governed by Commonwealth law and others are governed by state
and territorial law or common law. It has created a comprehensive charter of
rights in the workplace, the Commonwealth of Nations, the UK Labor Law, and the
standards set by the International Labor Organization, the Australian legislature, and the courts.
The
Commonwealth's ability to legislate on labor law under the power of compromise
and arbitration was seen as extremely narrow and limited. The Commonwealth
government sought to expand its industrial capabilities in other ways. For
example, in 1906 two bills were introduced, the Customs Tariff Act 1906 and the
Excise Tariff Act 1906 exempted manufacturers from duties that paid their
employees "fair and reasonable" wages. In the Harvester case, the
Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (1907) was required to set
"fair and reasonable" wages but in R v Barger (1908) the Australian
High Court overturned the government's strategy of using taxing power as
illegal. Berger's decision was based on the then-preserved state power theory,
which was repealed in the 1920s in the case of engineers.
South African labor law
South
African labor law regulates the relationship between employers, employees, and
trade unions in the Republic of South Africa.
The
Native Labor Regulations Act of 1911 prohibited strikes by trade unions and introduced a wage ceiling and a pass system for movement around jobs. More than
70,000 Chinese workers were brought in and used by landowners to reduce the
wages of other workers. There was significant unrest among white workers and
large-scale strikes in 1907, 1913, 1914, and 1922.
In
the sixteen years from 1979 to 1995, there have been several critical
developments in South Africa's labor law, beginning with a radical change
earlier this year, when an important commission of inquiry was set up to
establish an industrial court that molds and changes and shapes the law. And was
given extensive powers of development. Before 1995, most labor relations were
based on contracts. In 1995, many laws developed by the Commission and the
Industrial Courts were incorporated into the Labor Relations Act 1995 (LRA).
Since then, most labor laws have been based on the Constitution.
Prior
to 1995, an employee may be dismissed in terms of a contract of employment, which
may allow for any reason for dismissal. Since 1995, an employee can only be
fired for misconduct, performance reasons, and disability. The Labor Relations
Act 1995 is an important part of the law because it recognizes the need for
speedy and easy justice in labor disputes. The industrial court had the status
of a high court and was therefore not accessible to all workers.
The
Labor Relations Act 1995 regulates the issue of fairness not only in
termination but also in employment. In 1998, however, most laws relating to
unfair labor practices were removed from the Labor Relations Act 1995 and
placed within the Employment Equity Act (EEA). The EEA also deals with the
justification of an employee's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status or
disability, as well as issues of positive action.
The
Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Health and Safety Act, and the
Skills Development Act, must be read in conjunction with the EEA. The Skills
Development Act provides that a small percentage of a worker’s salary must
contribute to the labor department, enabling them to conduct certain workshops
that are designed to develop skills.
Labor law in Bangladesh
With
the development and expansion of factories and industries in the subcontinent
from the middle of the nineteenth century, new avenues of employment were
created, which resulted in the migration of the working class from rural to
primarily urban mills and factories. At that time, in the absence of any state
control or organization of workers, employers were less concerned about the
needs of their workers; Working hours were very long, wages were far below the
standard of living and the employment conditions of the workers were
unsatisfactory. The situation led to the enactment of several laws since 1881.
These include, among other things, the Factory Act (1881), the Workers'
Compensation Act (1923), the Trade Union Act (1926), the Trade Disputes Act
(1929), the Wages Payment Act (1936), the Maternity Benefit Act (1939) and the
Children's Employment Act (1938). After 1947, the government of Pakistan
decided to keep most of the pre-partition laws in force, with some changes and
amendments in the form of administrative rules to meet the changing needs. Almost
the same government decision was taken in independent Bangladesh to allow most
of these laws to remain in force by the Bangladesh Law Order
(Presidential Order No.) issued in early 1972.
The Bangladesh Labor Code 2006 is one of the most recent laws that has made major changes in the field of labor law. This code's laws were mostly made during the British colonial rule and the Pakistan period and numbered more than 50. In many cases, these laws are outdated, scattered, inconsistent, and often overlap. In 1992, the then government formed a labor law commission that examined 44 labor laws and recommended the repeal of 27 laws, and in 1994 it drafted a labor code. And finally, the Bangladesh Labor Code 2006 was passed by the Parliament on October 11, 2006. There are still 25 valid laws related to labor and industry which have not been repealed or consolidated and such as Bangladesh Labor Code 2006 although a unified law did not consolidate all the laws in the field. Moreover, although the name of the law is Bangladesh Labor Code, it is not a code but only consolidates the law.
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