In a democratic country, the law provides all-round stability, security and protection to all the citizens in all spheres of daily life. And the majority of the daily life of an average person is spent in their workplace. So it’s obvious that there are laws in place to govern employment and other issues related to it. As such, employment law is important in many ways, and people don’t give them much thought unless they face these particular problems. Meanwhile, an employment lawyer has specialisations in the field and works for law firms that deal with employment law specifically.
What Is Employment Law?
Employment law, in simple words, is a set of rules and regulations set in place by the government to regulate the relationship between employees and employers. It covers a wide range of grievances, from wrongful termination to resource hiring. Moreover, employment law exists to protect every working person in the country, irrespective of whether it’s the employer or the employee.
How and Why Is It Practised These days?
There have been a lot of issues in the employment sector that has come to light recently with cases of gender discrimination, maternity rights and so on. As such, some of the main topics Employment law is catering to are:
Employment terms and Conditions: At the time of hiring an employee, every company presents these to the prospective employee. And the most common grievance points are caused by clauses and terms that conflict with the employee’s interest.
Sick day, Holiday, pay and procedure: Many times, the conditions for sick days and pay during holidays are not clear. These cause confusion and conflicts.
Maternity and Parental rights: This is one of the issues which has come into the limelight in recent days. The need for longer maternity breaks and flexibility in timings for child care has been called for by employees in many companies and corporations. And there are now laws in place stating the minimum maternity break periods to be given.
Health and safety: In hard outdoor-based jobs like construction and engineering, there is a need for minimum safety to be given to the workers considering the environment they work in. And many employers tend to ignore employee safety to cut costs, making it an unsafe workplace. Moreover, other health benefits and insurance are also needed in such fields.
Discrimination: Gender and racial discrimination in places of work are strictly illegal. As such, employment laws protect and help victims of discrimination fight back in the court of law.
The Importance of an Employment Lawyer
Lawyers are an integral part of the judicial system of a country. They represent both sides of a case, making arguments for their respective sides. As such, employment attorneys are essentially the same but have a lot of other functions as well. Meanwhile, lawyers working for large companies have the job of providing legal advice in matters like mergers, forming the terms and conditions for the company employees while abiding by the government’s laws. And while working for an employee, they work on finding documents and collecting data to build a strong case, all while suggesting their clients their next course of legal action. Apart from this, they also arrange settlements and negotiations between the two parties involved in the conflict.
Choose the Right Lawyers
Choosing the right employment lawyer to represent you is very important in employment conflict cases. This is because in these cases, every word and action has implications for the case. Meanwhile, the “winning at any cost” mindset may not be the most appropriate here. Doing anything shady or even borderline illegal to win and being discovered would mean an end to the entire case and will put an irreplaceable black mark on your professional career.