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Employers have basic obligations, including non-discrimination, safe working environments, and minimum wages, which vary by jurisdiction. Employers may also be required to purchase workers’ compensation insurance.
In many places there are core employer obligations that employers are required to adhere to. While laws may vary from country to country and even region to region, employers generally need to behave fairly and responsibly when dealing with employees. Among the employer’s basic obligations in many places are employment without discrimination, safe working environments and minimum wages. In some places, employers are also required to purchase workers’ compensation insurance.
One of the basic obligations of the employer in many jurisdictions is to adhere to employment policies without discrimination. In many places, it is illegal to discriminate against applicants based on age, gender, race or national origin. Similarly, it is generally illegal to discriminate against prospective employees due to handicaps. If a prospective employee is qualified to do a job, an employer is breaking the law if he refuses to hire him because of a disability, skin color, gender, or age. Age discrimination laws typically apply to those in their 40s.
In many places, the employer’s basic obligations include providing a minimum wage. This means that employers in a jurisdiction that has minimum wage laws are required to pay their employees at least the minimum wage set in the jurisdiction. Often, a local area has a minimum wage that differs from the minimum set by the national government. In that case, the employer is often required to pay the higher minimum wage amount. There are some exceptions to these laws, however, and some jurisdictions do not require employers to pay professional workers a minimum wage; student workers; persons under the age of 20; workers receiving tips; and some agricultural and seasonal workers.
Many jurisdictions also have laws that include occupational safety in the employer’s list of obligations. In places that have these laws, employers are legally obligated to provide a reasonably safe and healthy workplace. The applicable standards, however, may depend on the type of work an employee performs, and sometimes jobs have inherent risks. For example, the risk of burns may be inherent in welding company employees, but a company that hires welders is generally required to create and adhere to safety practices that protect their employees from injury.
Workers’ compensation insurance is also a basic employer obligation in many jurisdictions. Where required, employers take out this insurance to cover work injury compensation claims. For example, if a person is injured by slipping on a wet floor at his place of employment, he can file a workers’ compensation claim with his employer’s insurance company. If a company is very small or financially able to act as its own insurer, however, workers’ compensation may not be required.
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