Labor Acts in the United States
Following the impact of the Industrial Revolution in the Unites States, modernization opened many job opportunities for Americans. Although these jobs guaranteed steady employment, long work hours and decreased pay for men, women, and children workers compromised their human rights. Worker labor groups decided to join, or unionize, in the fight for better working conditions. Starting in the late nineteenth century and continuing through the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s, workers fought for fair wages, safe working conditions, sick leave, family leave, pensions, and an end to child labor. Since 1970, Congress passed two major acts supporting these workers’ rights.
In 1970, Congress passed the Occupation Safety and Health Act establishing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This federal law provides protection for employees who work for employers with twenty of more full-time employees. OSHA’s mission “[assures] safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education,
…show more content…
Under federal law, qualified family and medical reasons include: personal or family illness, family military leave, pregnancy, adoption, or the foster care placement of a child. The FMLA ensures job protection for employees during their time on absence and ensures the “continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.” This act applies to employers with fifty or more employees that work twenty or more workweeks per year and covers public employees such as schools and other public agencies whether at the federal, state, or local level. President Bill Clinton signed FMLA into law on February 5,