7 Regulatory Acts All HR Professionals must be Aware of
It is not easy being an HR Professional. With a lot of regulatory agencies supervising every move, there are a lot of things that need to be considered on a daily basis. Here are seven extremely important regulatory acts all HR professionals must be aware of –
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act is an extensive civil rights regulation that forbids companies from discriminating against individuals with some form of disability. Based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ADA entitles Americans with disabilities with certain protections at the workplace. Companies are not allowed to not hire or fire individuals solely because of a disability. ADA also compels employers to make available satisfactory accommodations to workers with disabilities and enforces accessibility obligations on public accommodations. For example, a company employing a disabled person who needs a wheelchair to commute must build a ramp alongside the office stairs to ensure his/her safety.
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
This federal law enforcement agency imposes laws opposing any form of workplace discrimination based on an employee’s sex, race, nationality, religion, sexual preference or disability. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission looks into reports about workplace discrimination and cases involving retribution from the company against an employee for reporting or challenging a discriminatory practice.
- The Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963. A federal law, this act revised the Fair Labor Standards Act, to abolish income disparity based on sexual discrimination.
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Passed in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law necessitating covered companies to offer workers employment-protected leaves for eligible medical and family reasons. Eligible family and medical reasons consist of – personal illness, illness of a family member, military leave of a family member, pregnancy, or foster-care assignment of a child.
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
The Occupational Safety and Health Act aims to guarantee safe and healthy employment conditions for workers. Passed in 1970, this US Labor law encouraged all the states to intensify their efforts to guarantee that all registered companies provide a safe and healthy work environment to their employees. Under the supervision of this act, employers are counseled to conduct training sessions for their employees to maintain satisfactory occupational safety and health standards.
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
This federal law was passed in 1974. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act was introduced for employers in the private industry who provide pension plans to their workers. The ERISA requires employers to maintain certain standards when setting up a pension plan for their workers. It doesn’t force companies to provide compulsory pension plans.
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
FLSA is the father of all federal labor laws in the US. It established a nationwide minimum wage, a forty-three-hour week work limit and abolished the employment of minors.
All HR professionals are required to be educated on all of these major acts and laws.
Summary
In order to successfully fulfill their job role, HR professionals need to be well-versed with a number of regulatory acts. Some of the crucial acts are Occupational Safety and Health Act, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Family and Medical Leave Act, and Employee Retirement Income Security Act, amongst others.
Reshali Balasubramaniam
Head of HR, HR Counselor and adviser at https://jobpal.lk and EFutureTech Systems. Submit your resume online and be contacted by prospective employers.