General and Federal Labor Laws

Labor Laws are a very important group of laws, regulations and general rules that all employees need to keep in mind anytime you're getting a job or beginning to feel your job is treating you unfairly. Labor laws, also known as employee laws, are a body of laws to regulate and protect employees, as well as any organizations they are affiliated with. Perhaps you've seen Labor Law Posters on the wall of a break room in a building where you've worked? These Federal Labor Law Posters are there to duly inform all employees in the building of the laws, rights and regulations that are due to them, often so no employees can claim ignorance of mistreatment or illegal activity on the part of their employers.

Originally labor laws were brought into existence due to the establishment of Unions, which were created to protect the rights of employees and to give them a collective voice to speak out against unfair treatment at the hands of the companies that employed them. There are also individual labor laws, meant to protect any employee against mistreatment, unfair hours or demands and many other potential problems in the workplace. Beginning during the Industrial Revolution, Labor laws help protect employees against improper conditions and regulate the standards of employment used by employers.

Most of the time when you see a Labor Law poster in the workplace it's detailing required working conditions, maximum work hours as allowed by the government without the payment of overtime to the employee, and the lowest rate of pay(minimum wage) that an employee can legally receive as laid down by federal regulations. Also you may see rules on Holidays, vacation time, sick leave and federal safety posters regulations determining the required level of safety within the workplace. It was not uncommon during the Industrial Revolution for factory workers to be in extremely safe conditions and working more than fourteen hours a day at a stretch with extremely limited, if any, time off or sick leave, including medical leave due to work related injuries.

Unions were created due to these extremely demanding conditions to help regulate and make workplaces safer and work-hours more reasonable. These Unions began pushing to have federal and state laws created to help control and regulate child labor, as well as to help minimize discrimination against race, religion or background. The creation of Unions, Major protesting and organized employee strikes pushed employers into action and required them to begin treating their employees better.