Labor law

The law has many branches and one of them is labor law. This law is made up of norms and rules that must be complied with in order to provide protection to workers, who are seen as the weakest part of a worker-employer relationship.

About labor law

Labor law consists of a series of legal principles and rules that have as its main objective the protection of work and the productive worker. In this way it regulates the relations between the owners of companies and their workers.

Characteristics of labor law

The main features of labor law are as follows:

It is a relatively new and constantly expanding
Its meaning is merely protective.
It protects the worker because he considers that he is the weakest part of the company.
It is an obligatory right, but it is outside the law.
It only protects individuals who have an employment relationship.

Principles

The principles of labor law are as follows:

Tutelary or protective principle: it provides protection to the working party against the unequal normative treatment of subjects.
Principle of the continuity of the labor relationship seeks that labor relations are stable. It assures the continuity of the worker’s permanence in the company, protecting him from being fired and limiting the employer’s faculties to put an end to the contract.
Principle of supremacy of reality: it tells us that documents or agreements are more important than what is given in practice.
Principle of reasonability: it establishes what is reasonable as an interpretative criterion in situations in which, as a result of errors, confusion, simulation or fraud, it is necessary to establish the true scope of the clauses or legal situations in order to avoid unreasonable arbitrariness or injustice.
Principle of the inalienability of labor rights: it gives the legal impossibility of voluntarily depriving oneself of one or more advantages granted by Labor Law.
Principle of association freedom: it is the application and interpretation of the Collective Labor Law.

Sources

The sources of labor law are the following:

Constitution: It is the place where all the guarantees and freedoms enjoyed by individuals are contemplated, as well as the protection they have against the State.
The law: it is the legal norm that comes from the legislative power.
Collective agreements: they are the result of agreements between workers’ representatives and employers.
International treaties: they are a direct source on the regulation of labor rights, guaranteeing all workers in the countries the same rights as the states they sign.
Custom, jurisprudence, employment contracts between workers and employers.
Conventions and recommendations given by the International Labor Organization.
International jurisprudence.

Backgrounds

After the fall of the Roman Empire, work culture passed to new generations who grew up in environments where work was necessary and was also considered a social good. It should be remembered that in the Middle Ages feudalism arose and between the feudal lords and the Catholic Church the work of the workers was shared out.

At the end of the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution emerged and with it, a new ideology that said that wealth could also be obtained when there were opportunities for growth and enrichment.

In modern times, labor law has antecedents such as the industrial revolution itself, competition, liberalism and communism. At the end of 1940, labor law emerged, which is the main antecedent of the labor law we enjoy today.

History

In the early 1980s, strong voices in human rights, labor, academics, and religious communities formed a coalition to fight for workers’ rights in international trade. In 1984, the coalition succeeded in establishing legislation linking the granting of U.S. trade and investment benefits. In 1986, the group launched the International Labor Rights Education and Research Fund to monitor the enforcement of these laws and develop other means to protect workers’ rights around the world.

Many of today’s successes in labor law have been the result of the participation and leadership of different groupings; close collaboration with labor unions and other partners around the world, including religious and consumer organizations; and ongoing dialogue with governments and businesses.

Importance of labor law

Labor laws or labor rights are very important because they give structure to the workplace, say what employees and employers are responsible for, and, in some cases, describe federal regulations to give both parties the direction they need to resolve workplace disputes. These laws are important because they allow businesses to focus more on productivity and profitability rather than giving constant energy and resources to problem solving.

It also helps preserve organizational integrity; it is useful for developing business principles and ethics in the workplace. It is also important to remind owners to be good corporate citizens.