Analysis of Articles about Labor Legislation - Annotated Bibliography Example

Lecturer: Topic: Annotated Bibliography Basu, Kaushil: “The Intriguing Relation between Adult Minimum Wage and Child Labor”, Economic journal. 110.462 (2000), C50-C61 It develops the argument that most of the parents send their children to go to work when the family has been confronted by a situation that puts them in poverty. It is of the opinion that when the minimum wage has been increased for the adults that are supposed to be doing this jobs, then the rate at which children will be employed to do these jobs will greatly decrease though this is not what is happening in practice (p. 1) It subsequently comes to the conclusion that if the minimum wages that the adults usually earn after they have worked can be raised by a law that is passed to specifically deal with this area, then the impact on the labor industry would be intriguing. A high minimum wage might make more adults to become unemployed since the employers will not hire them so that they can be able to reduce their expenditure and this will make them send their children to take the places that they will have left vacant. When more children take up these jobs, they will continue to displace more adult labor and therefore the children will have to keep going to work (p.1) This kind of scenario will most probably take place in an economy that is poised to post fertility that is high but the rate of productivity is relatively low where the amount of child labor that a particular household can supply is greater as a result of the families having many children. It also uses a model that is theoretical as it tries to make a prediction of the incidences that mainly involve or are associated with child labor. Karnasuta. “Homework in Developing Countries: A case of Thailand.” Bangkok: National Institute of Development Administration, 1987. Print In the informal sector, work that is done at home can be looked at as a form of employment if the worker gets to earn from it. This research paper aims to aims to understand the position, development, types and incidences of the workers that work at home and also the structure of production, the employment relations, the wages that they earn, the employment and labor attributes coupled with the conditions that they work in and the reasons that make this people look for this particular kind of employment (p. 9). The policies, measures and actions that both the public and private sectors are executing are also considered by the research paper and the problems that might arise from the implementation of these measures are identified. The different ways that these problems can be dealt with or the conditions are also considered and suggested by the research paper. The data that is used in this study was collected using a variety of methods that included administering a well-structured and detailed questionnaire to four hundred respondents that were homeworkers where half of them came from the garment industry and the rest from artificial flower making who were working in Bangkok and the five provinces that surround it. This was further enhanced by some data that was in depth that was procured through an observation that was participatory that entailed fifty cases. The report is generally dedicated to an investigation of the labor conditions that exist, the employment relations, the pay that the employees earn and the socio-economic characteristic that the workers possess. Working at home and also working at a location that is central have been discussed to great depths by the report. The study has come to the conclusion that the key benefit of homework to the firm that has contracted these employees can be identified in cost saving while the worker will only enjoy working hours that are very flexible. These contracting firms are considered to be running away from the labor laws and more specifically the minimum wage levels by encouraging the workers to continue working in their homes. The major disadvantage of this kind of engagement is the limiting of the potential and the possibilities that the women have for any kind of advancement. Based on these findings that entail the advantages and the disadvantages of this form of engagement, the report indorses that the labor laws should come into effect and be enforced in a way that is stricter that the way that they are being enforced. The government policies which are indirectly responsible for the promotion of the work that women do and are supposed to assist them through the development of skills and providing credit for those that are interested in starting micro enterprises should also be aggressively enforced and implemented. Lehrer, Susan. “Origins of Protective Labor Legislation for Women. “Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987. print Lehrer scrutinizes the protective labor legislation that is enacted specifically for women which in theory has been described as non-discriminatory by the 1972 regulations and guidelines for Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The issues that are related to equal amount of payment for labor that is of a worth that is comparable and whether or not the child bearing mandate and functions the women have to deal with should be treated in a special manner in the place of work are considered to be concerns that are contemporary. Lehrer is much more interested in the Progressive Era that was in the United States which was characterized by the people that called themselves the reformers not coming up with any challenges to the work market that was sex-segregated and the unspoken assumptions that they had which implied that the position of the woman was in the home (p. 10). In the study, Lehrer looks at the aspects of the early 20th century protective labor legislation that are diverse as mere legal ideologies, minimum wage legislation, the women’s suffrage movement and also the Women’s Trade Union League. New York Times, February 22, 1939. Fair Labor Standards Act, Sections 7 (b) (1) and (2) Elmer F. Andrew defined comprehensive clarifications of various sections which he was convinced would be important in making sure that a policy that would guarantee an annual wage in the industries would be able to flourish. In the Sections 7 (b) (1) and 7 (b) (2) the limitations that are associated with collective bargaining agreements that the employers are supposed to make with the labor unions that are duly certified are defined under these sections. Sections 7 (b) (1) prescribes that the employers should always ensure that the employees are not made to work for more than a thousand hours in twenty six weeks. It also state that if the employer and the employees decide that they want to enter in to a contract with each other under 7 (b) (2) then the employees that are party to the contract are supposed to be paid on an annual basis. Mr. Andrews construes this statement as meaning that the employees are supposed to have an assurance of an annual wage that is fixed or that their employment should be continuous without interruptions for the whole year. He also thinks that the employees are not supposed to work for a period that will exceed two thousand hours in a one year period. When there is a case that an employee worked for a period that exceeded the one thousand hours or the two thousand hours (two thousand and eighty hours if vacation that has pay is inclusive) under this kind of contract then this will be a violation of the law since it will be going against the act. Although there was no assurance of employment that is meant to be continuous or a wage which was fixed that was written in section 7 (b) (1) the bulletin that is contained states that section 7 (b) (2) necessitates that employment should be on a basis that is annual. The Congress had intended that the employee was supposed to have an assurance that he will either have an annual wage that is fixed or an annual employment that will not be interrupted in any way for the whole year. Raynauld, Andre, and Jean-Pierre Vidal. “Labor Standards and International Competitiveness: A Comparative Analysis of Developing and Industrialized Countries.” Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1998. The main and major intention of this book is to closely study the impact of the labor standards that exist on the competitiveness of firms in the setting that entails a comparison that takes place between the countries that have been able to be developed and those that are still in the process of developing. Looking at them generally, the standards of labor will normally include but are not limited to the regulations by the government that are meant to address the working conditions of the numerous employees and also those rules that will tend to come up as a result of the collective agreements like the minimum wages. They will also be responsible for the freedom that the employees will enjoy at their disposal that allows them to form labor unions, the restrictions that are placed on the number of hours that every employee should work and many other instances and examples that are of a similar nature and carry a substantial importance (p. 8). In the countries that are developing, the absence of a code of labor standards that is stringent has been observed in the countries that are more advanced as creating a competition that is considered to be unfair and, either in the right way or in the wrong way, as a way of mitigating the adoption of measures that can be described to be protectionist. As a result, he developed countries have assumed a mindset that is totally against the adoption of the labor standards since they have the view that the measures that are prescribed by these particular standards have the potential to create an interference with the competitiveness that they have been able to establish in the world markets. Schuldt Roberts, Woodall Davis and Block Walter. “Drowning the Poor in Excessive Wages: The Problems of the Minimum Wage Law.” Humanomics, 28.4, (2012) 258 - 269 The research paper aims to clearly demonstrate that the minimum wage law is a harmful law that affects the unskilled employees, the young people and the people that belong to the minority groups. The authors decided to use the logical application of basic supply and demand economic analysis as their method of doing the research. The authors thus arrived at the conclusion that whenever a minimum wage of any level whether high or low is imposed on the people, the people that have productivity that is equal to that level or lower run the risk of becoming unemployed as a result of the situation that is caused by this minimum wage law. They go on to give instances that can serve as examples by stating that when a minimum wage is set to be ten dollars for an hour, the workers that might not be able to be productive enough to and make productions that are below this rate are likely not to get hired and this will in the end increase the rate of unemployment and increase the number of people that are unemployed. When the rate is raised even higher, then even the people that were able to produce at the ten dollars per hour rate will also become unemployed and this will only serve to escalate the problem that has been caused by unemployment. They prescribe that there should be more effort that should be directed towards finding out exactly who are the beneficiaries that gain from this kind of law since it is very clear that the people who are poor and those that are not skilled do not really benefit in any way from it. They state that the practical implication that arises from this research is that the minimum wage is supposed to be abolished so that the people that are unskilled and those that belong to the minority groups can also get a chance to be employed. The social implications that come out of this enactment of minimum wage laws show that the attitudes that the public currently possesses is skewed overwhelmingly towards the support of this minimum wage law. This though is greatly associated with people that are ignorant about how the economy works and therefore the public will need to be educated in the simple basics of how this minimum wage law affects the economy. The authors finish by explaining that if the implications that arise from this paper will be able to be implemented, then it will be of a lot of importance to the people that have always wanted the rate of unemployment to go down and also to the people that are unskilled and those that belong to the minority groups. My Best Source: Lehrer, Susan. Origins of Protective Labor Legislation for Women, 1925. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987. This is a comprehensive analysis that covers an extremely wide range where the author who is Susan Lehrer tries to make an investigation of where the protective labor legislations that are meant to cover women originally came from. She discloses the social forces that were responsible for the push for these laws to be passed and the effects that more often than not are contradictory in that they do not really protect the people that they were meant to protect (p. 5). The size of the work force that is constituted by women is quickly getting bigger and this is making both the people that employ them and the society as a whole to begin changing the mindset that they have always had towards the women that are working (p. 6). The author makes available perception that is directed at issues that are current which usually affect the employees that are female such as the pay equity, having equal rights with the male counterparts and maternity which have always been part of the debates that have been taking place in the past and the realities that are happening in the present that affect the employees and workers of the female gender. The protective labor laws that came in to being from 1905 to 1925 came with the effect that allowed them to define the position that the working women were supposed to hold (p. 6). Lehrer goes on to evaluate the association that exists between the women’s work in the labor force and domestic labor and the motives that the government had that made them regulate this relationship that was existing. The author then dwells on the dual need for a continuing labor force and the source of cheap labor which in essence is referring to the mandate the that women have of bearing and producing children and at the same time they are hired to do the jobs that pay wages that are on the lower end of the scale. She uses this to demonstrate the way that social reforms were able to work towards the benefit of capitalism even though they were supposed to essentially help the subordinate classes. The groups that are considered to be the primary ones in this book are the organizations that are responsible for social reforms such as the suffragists and the Women’s Trade Union League, the organized labor that includes the AFL and printing trades’ unions, and the employers association which basically encompasses the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Civic Federation. When all this elements are considered collectively, the book gives a wide and meticulous picture of the forces that are involved in the issues that are concerned with protective labor legislation. Work Cited Basu, Kaushil: “The Intriguing Relation between Adult Minimum Wage and Child Labor”, Economic journal. 110.462 (2000), C50-C61 Karnasuta. “Homework in Developing Countries: A case of Thailand.” Bangkok: National Institute of Development Administration, 1987. Print Lehrer, Susan. “Origins of Protective Labor Legislation for Women. “Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987. print Raynauld, Andre, and Jean-Pierre Vidal. “Labor Standards and International Competitiveness: A Comparative Analysis of Developing and Industrialized Countries.” Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1998. Schuldt Roberts, Woodall Davis and Block Walter. “Drowning the Poor in Excessive Wages: The Problems of the Minimum Wage Law.” Humanomics, 28.4, (2012) 258 - 269 Read More