Employment Law Policy Paper Essay Research Coursework
Employment Law Policy Paper (40% of final grade). Each student will submit an essay of 2,500 words or fewer on an appropriate public policy issue related to a significant employment law topic. The expectations for this assignment will be discussed in further detail. A pseudo-lecture dedicated to learning the basics of legal research using the Nexis Uni database. I have attached a file containing an article from the Nexis Uni database. The paper must be submitted at no later than 8:00am on December 14, 2020. The policy paper may be submitted in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format.
The professor provided the information listed below to help with the essay.
I promised that I would provide some sample topics for the policy paper assignment. So, here are twenty-five of them. Not required to choose from the list or anything like that. Just some ideas to help you start thinking. Here they are – in no particular order (and honestly with very little thought):
Whether (and to what extent) the U.S. should have a minimum wage?
Whether (and to what extent) the U.S. minimum wage should be increased?
Whether (and to what extent) a U.S. state (e.g., Texas) should have so-called “right-to-work” laws?
Whether (and for what reasons(s)) affirmative action should be permitted in employee selection processes?
Whether (and to what extent) employers in states that have decriminalized marijuana should be able to take adverse employment action against an employee for using marijuana?
Whether (and to what extent) non-compete clauses should be enforceable against low-level employees (see, e.g., https://www(dot)nytimes(dot)com/2014/10/15/upshot/when-the-guy-making-your-sandwich-has-a-noncompete-clause.html (Links to an external site.))?
Whether (and to what extent) employers should be able to pay less than the minimum wage to “tipped” employees?
Whether (and to what extent) at-will employees should be entitled to some level of due process before adverse employment actions?
Whether (and to what extent) “International” students in the U.S. should be entitled to work under their student visas?
Whether (and to what extent) the law ought to cap executive compensation?
Whether (and to what extent) employers should be exempt from the contraception requirements of the ACA based on owners’ religious values (see, e.g., htps://www(dot)plannedparenthoodaction(dot)org/issues/birth-control/burwell-v-hobby-lobby (Links to an external site.))?
Whether (and to what extent) the FLSA’s exemption levels (e.g., $684/week) should be increased?
Whether (and to what extent) prospective employers should be permitted to use data from applicants’ social media histories in the employee selection process?
Whether (and to what extent) the U.S. military should be permitted to discriminate against applicants based on physical features (e.g., height and weight)?
Whether (and to what extent) employers should be permitted to discriminate against job applicants for being too young?
Whether (and to what extent) state-government employees ought to be permitted to collectively bargain?
Whether (and to what extent) employers should be permitted to pay less than the minimum wage to employees younger than 18?
Whether (and under what circumstances and to what extent) employers should be permitted to discriminate based on physical appearance with respect to applicants for customer-facing jobs (think: Hooters)?
Whether (and to what extent) U.S. employers should be required to contribute to employees’ future retirements?
Whether (and to what extent) U.S. employers should be required to provide paid maternity leave? Or paternity leave? Or sick leave (a la Massachusetts)? Or voting leave? Or jury-service leave? Or military-service leave? Or…
Whether (and to what extent) employers should be required to pay a higher wage (e.g., 1.5x) to non-FLSA-exempt employees when employees work more than forty hours in a work week?
Whether (and to what extent) U.S. employers should be permitted to discriminate against Green-Card holders in favor of U.S. citizens in the employee selection process?
Whether (and to what extent and under what conditions) employers should be permitted to pay “interns” less than the minimum wage?
Whether (and to what extent) the U.S. should consider “disparate impact” (in addition to “disparate treatment”) in equal employment opportunity analyses?
Whether (and to what extent) ride-share drivers (e.g., Uber, Lyft, etc.) are “employees” under the FLSA?
Employment Law Policy Paper
Student’s Name
Institution
Employment Law Policy Paper
Employment law plays a key role in guiding the relationship between employers and employees. It deals with laws on employee discrimination, terms of employment, wages, and pensions, among others (Bisom-Rapp, 2003). Primarily, employment law protects workers’ rights. However, issues of misclassification of workers often endanger the full rights of the employee. In recent years, there has been an issue within the employment law and labor practices in the US concerning the classification of workers in the sharing economy. Businesses in the sharing economy, such as Uber, have been sued because they classify their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. This paper will explore whether these ride-share drivers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and to what extent they are employees.
The FLSA protects covered workers in the government and private sector. It is concerned with setting the minimum wage, overtime pay, and minimum age of employees as well as record keeping (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.). To better understand whether ride-share drivers are employees under the FLSA, it is important to understand the classification of workers as either independent contractors or as employees. Several tests are usually carried out to properly classify workers. According to Bosley (2016), the classification of workers is crucial because it guides the relationship between an employer and a worker. The rights of a worker classified as an employee are more and different than those of a worker classified as an independent contractor. In the sharing economy, and specifically among the ride-share drivers, the classification of workers has been an issue of contention because by classifying their workers as independent contractors, ride-share companies fail to provide their drivers with employee benefits that are given to traditional taxi drivers.
As stated earlier, different tests are applied in different states and in different scenarios to classify workers as employees or independent contractors. One key test used to classify workers, which is applicable in the FLSA scope, is the right to control test. The right to control test checks the extent to which the employer controls and directs how the worker performs their duty (Bosley, 2016). When employers have higher control, then the worker is classified as an employee but when the control is minimum, the worker is classified as an independent contractor. In determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the FLSA, several factors are put into consideration, although no single factor can be used on its own to decide (Bosley, 2016). These include ...