How Laws Affect Human Resource Management (Research Paper Sample)

Topic: Law and Ethics
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Introduction
Law and ethics both play important roles in the society. Ethics can be said to be the values or principles that are acceptable by the society or a given group of people. Laws on the other hand are set by an authority or government and have to be followed. Infringing on laws attract sanctions such as penalties while actions that do not conform to the ethics amount misconduct or immorality. Human resource management experiences the intervention of both ethics and law (McAdams et al, 2015).
How Laws Affect Human Resource Management
As a human resource manager, various laws come in play most of which are aimed at protecting the employees. Labour laws affect the human resource managements. The laws come in to ensure a healthy working environment between the employees and the employers (represented by the human resource department). The labour laws that guide the actions of a human resource manager include but are not limited to prohibition of discrimination, provision of safe working environments and reasonable pay for labour offered.
The general laws of contract affect human resource management. The agreement between the employer through the human resource department and the employer is based on contract law. The agreement defines the duties of the employer and the employer thus creating a contractual relationship. Once the agreement has been mutually entered too, it is upon every party that is the employee and the employer to fulfil their obligations. If a party breaches their duty in as provided for in the contract, the other party can seek redress against them. The human resource department therefore by the laws of the contract is both obligated and protected by the law when hiring, training and dismissing employees (McAdams et al, 2015).
Tort law comes affects human resource departments and managers. Employers are held liable for the tortious acts committed by their employees in the course of duty. This means that the human resource managers should take into account measures to prevent injuries to third parties arising from the acts of the individuals they hire to accomplish tasks. Human resource management has the responsibility to ensure healthy and safe working environments for the employees. When the department is not able to eliminate any reasonable risks at the workplace which subsequently cause an employee to be injured, the department is held liable for such injuries. Human resource management is largely affected by tort laws (McAdams et al, 2015).
Intellectual property laws affect the operations of human resource departments and managers. Issues regarding copyrights, patents and trade secrets. It is the responsibility of the human resource departments to ensure the individuals hired are made aware of the regulations regarding intellectual property. Hiring individuals capable of infringing the rights under intellectual property laws by acts such as plagiarism and illegal access to trade secrets may vastly harm the organisation. Human resource departments have significant duties to ensure the employees do not infringe on intellectual rights of other individuals or businesses (Walsh, 2015).
Human resources managers are also subject to criminal laws. Criminal laws come into effect when human resource managers maliciously with intention act against the law in matters related to hiring, enumeration and dismissal of employees. Issues of discrimination and fraud that harm the employees always bring individual human resource managers to the full effect of law. Discriminations based on gender, health status, ages, race and religion if exhibited by a human resource manager and proven in a court of law can attract sanctions (Walsh, 2015).
Ethics in Human Resource Management
The effects of ethics in business depends on the nature of the business. Managers in charge of various human resource departments are guided by the codes of ethics that are followed in that organisation. Ethics relating to human resource management mainly focus on treating the employee not as an asset or machine for production but as an important member of the business enterprise. This means that employees are generally treated with due respect and their fundamental rights are not infringed (Treviño & Weaver, 2001).
Ethics plays a great role in employee satisfaction and retention. When employees have the feeling that the business enterprise upholds the values that it is deemed to have high considerations for, they are likely to feel satisfied and the turnover rate will be low. The employees will tend to love their jobs and stick longer compared to when they feel they are not appreciated, motivated and respected (Treviño & Weaver, 2001).
Human resource management is also concerned with production. It is upon the managers and the human resource department to ensure that after bringing together other resources, production is actualised. Ethics come in to determine affect the level of production. The perception of the employees that the enterprise conducts itself morally especially the department that touches on their affairs, gives them the drive to strive towards achieving the goals of such a business entity (Osibanjo et al, 2015).
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Institutions and individuals other than the court can be used in solving disputes between parties. In the context of human resource management, the disputes are majorly between the employer and the employee. It is the duty of human resource department to ensure that amicable means of resolving disputes other than courts are available. The use of ADR can be expressly provided for in the employment contracts or can be requested by the human resource management when a dispute between the employee and employer arises. Various forms of ADR exist and may or may not suit disputes related to human resource management (Saundry et al, 2014).
Mediation is a form of ADR that involves a third party. The invited party is neutral, does not make decisions on the dispute but only facilitate the reaching of a mutual resolution acceptable for both parties. Mediation is significant when the parties have a relationship they wish to preserve. Human resource management prefers that disputes with employees ...