Ba340

DANDRIDGE MENDOZA

BA340: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: LEGISLATION

April 16, 2013

Abstract

Labor law traces its roots to the early 1800s, when employees who banded together to strike for improved working conditions were branded as criminals. By the mid-nineteenth century, the law changed to recognize the right of workers to organize and conduct Collective Bargaining with their employers. Employers, however, were not receptive to unions. Between 1842 and 1932, they routinely used injunctions to stop strikes and to frustrate union organizing (Shulman, 1950). The field of human resources management is greatly influenced and shaped by state and federal employment legislation. Indeed, regulations and laws govern all aspects of human resource management, including recruitment, placement, development, and compensation areas.

The National Labor Relations Act of the Wagner Act of 1935 was created by Congress to protect workers' right to unionization.  The National Labor Relations Board was created to enforce the National Labor Relations Act.  The NLRB conducts secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees want union representation and also investigates unfair labor practices by employers and unions.  The act guarantees un-supervised employees the right to self-organize, choose their own representatives, and bargain collectively or they may choose not to do any of these things.  The statute guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers or to refrain from all such activity.  This generally applies to all employers involved in interstate commerce other than airlines, railroads, agriculture, and government. The Wagner Act also enforces the national labor policy of assuring free choice and encourages collective bargaining as a means of maintaining industrial peace (Shulman, 1950).

The NLRB must also make sure that employers do not discriminate against union members.  There have been...