Litigation vs. Common Sense and Compassion Essays

Employers, managers and supervisors should all ensure that workplace practices reflect the risk assessment and safety statement. Behavior, the way in which everyone works, must reflect the safe working practices laid down in these documents. Supervisory checks and audits should be carried out to determine how well the aims set down are being achieved. Corrective action should be taken when required. Additionally, if a workplace is provided for use by others. The safety statement must also set out the safe work practices that are relevant to them. Hence, it is

Although the Health and Safety at work etc. Act 1974 provides criminal legislation for employers, there are various key health and safety requirements that identify a duty of care owed to an employee by an employer, that have been set via precedents. This essay aims to identify the key health and safety requirements owed by an employer to an employee, deriving from common law, including the principle of vicarious liability

In 1980, a precedent was set in a Michigan court case involving a man named Charles Toussaint who was suing his employer, BlueCross Blue Shield, for wrongful termination based on the guidelines set in the employee manual (Alfred and Bertsche 33). The manual stated that employees would only be terminated for just cause, and the court decided that Blue Cross had violated the agreements in the employee manual (34). The court also ruled that even with Blue Cross’s efforts to provide a document that “issued non-binding guidelines” the employee manual was a contract and Toussiant was wrongfully terminated (34). After the precedent set by this case many employers and employees for that matter were reviewing their employee manuals for the type of

It is important to recognise the different responsibilities and approaches of a member of staff, the employer and others in the work setting. For example the employer is responsible to provide PPE and relevant health and safety training free of charge. It is then the responsibility of a staff member to use the PPE and to attend the training. So although the responsibilities are different they are also related and both need to work in order to ensure a high standard of health and safety. The employer provides as safe working environment, however if an accident or incident occurs it requires the efforts of both staff and sometimes others to report this to ensure measures are put into place to reduce any risk associated with the incident or accident. Another example of how health and safety has a linked responsibility can be shown through a member of staff ensuring they provide the relevant fire safety information/instructions to others. It is then the responsibility for others to follow these instructions.

The United States Supreme Court, as well as federal district and state courts, defines employee rights and an employer’s liability for employment law violations. Treatment on the job, including hiring, firing, and promotions, must be based on qualifications and merit and not on race, gender, age, sexual preference or how one responds to sexual advances. Yet despite these laws and policies, many employees continue to suffer from workplace harassment and employment discrimination.

Also employers should provide up to date courses on health and safety to ensure that staff know how to keep themselves and others safe in the workplace and any outside visitors or customers that come in and to be able to co-operate with their employers. Also make sure they are following safety rules like using equipment safely, ensuring materials used are properly stored, handled, used and transported, to provide a safe working environment for employers, to provide a written safety policy/risk assessment, also staff should know what to do in case of an accident occurring at work or how to report any safety risks.

Health & Safety At Work Etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA)Employers have a general duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees so far as is reasonably practicable.Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999Employers have a legal duty to carry out risk assessments as the first step in ensuring a safe and healthy workplace. * A written record must be kept if there are 5 or more employees. * Preventive and protective measures must be

Litigation has replaced common sense and compassion in today’s world. Almost every dispute in today’s workplace is solved in court. There was a time when employee trusted and

Walsh, D. J. (2013). Employment law for human resource practice (4th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage

This responsibility motivates the HR department and managers to implement stringent policies to prevent work-related injuries to avoid paying for higher workers’ compensation insurance. Moreover, it inspires the company to promote safety by organizing a safety committee to address hazards in the workplace to prevent injuries or deaths. The committee solicits employee suggestions and participation to increase compliance to company policies. It also develops various safety programs to promote employee wellness to improve their quality of life (Gomez-Mejia, et al, 2010).

Employment law encompasses a wide range of ethical topics within the workplace, however there are two of the main dilemmas that are present within the organization. The first

It is important it have a written work Health and Safety Policy for the organizations and businesses which have management systems. The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 addresses Major Hazard Facilities in Regulation 558 and Schedule 17(1.2) and requires that the Safety Management System includes a Safety Policy, including the operator’s broad aims in relation to the safe operation of the major hazard facility, and that the safety policy must include and express commitment to ongoing improvement of all aspects of the safety management system. A Work Health and Safety Policy is an explicit statement of business commitment to work health and safety. It will include a statement outlining the importance which is placed on work health and safety and how it is to be implemented.

The National Employment Lawyers Association was so concerned about the abuse many workers were experiencing in a work environment filled with discrimination, harassment, and “capricious” employment decisions (About the Institute - History, 2011, para.1) that they decided to become an advocate “for employees rights by advancing equality and justice in the

Part of the employer’s responsibility is to control potential workplace hazard and correct hazardous conditions or practices as they occur or are recognized. If an employer effectively identifies these or other red flags, he should begin and keep accurate documentation of the incident, investigate the accident adequately, and provide safety and health training annually.

However, this fact only works on the reduction of such cases simply because most of these or similar cases or acts have been repeatedly in different scenarios within different organizations. It is of this concern, that this paper tends to explore on the some of the cases or acts, how the employer deals with them, the workers history in a specific company, how the act or action violates the employer policy and the likely result of arbitration in relation to the offence committed. In this regard, the essay will tend to creatively implement these steps by the use of three fictional scenarios.one of the scenarios will be dealing with substance abuse, the other will be dealing work place conflict and the last one will be