Being gainfully employed is cause for feeling great about life for many people. However, this joy is often short lived when the security of making a living and providing for one's family is on shaky ground. Currently the United States does not have a great track record for protecting workers. Many of the state governments differ in their applications of the laws that do exist as opposed to federal government. In many instances, state laws are stricter and offer more protection to their citizens than federal laws. This paper will look more closely at some of the issues involved in the area of employment law.
Approximately 43 states in the United States are employment-at-will states. This is a common practice that means that either employer or employee may terminate the employment at any time for any reason. There are three exceptions to this rule however. The most common is a termination that violates state regulations.
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There are laws at the federal level to protect migrant workers that are overseen by the Department of Labor. (US Dept of Labor, 2006) These laws apply to disclosure or job information, wages, housing, vehicles and payroll records of each employee. As to state laws, in 17 states there is legislation that states a person's sexual orientation cannot be grounds for dismissal. In this case, employee protection is extended to the employee on both a federal and state level. (Wikipedia, 2006)
However, there are...