Your Future With Jones Act Law

You were always considering your future and a part of it was a career to sustain your need and your family. Most of you desires to work at a large industry because they may offer high compensation. Let us took focus on Maritime Industry, one of the biggest industry with high compensation rate which depends on the status of a its employee. Dock workers, seaman, radio officer, boat captain and crews, tanker or cargo ship employee, offshore rig workers,electronics officer, barge men and ferry or water taxi workers were just a few jobs under a maritime industry.

It was not enough to have a career in one of the biggest industry, what you must consider and ask yourself was: "How risky this industry was?" Each industry has risk, an there was no exemption to it the only different was the situation and the level and kind of the risk that you engaged. For maritime industry, it was considered as one of the most risky industry. The different accidents and personal injuries taken account under the different company in various places under the maritime industry made justice the said statement. This was fact that was attached to the said industry.

You already know the how risky maritime industry was the next thought would be: "What were the reason behind those risk?" The primary reason behind the occurrence of accidents and personal injury was: due to the number of hours they were working, often time maritime workers was on long working hours than a standard working hours. Another was they were working away for a couple of months and was exposed to various chemicals, because of it they were lack in proper medication that results to a health complication and may end in a personal injury.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 was passed by senator Wesley Jones. "What was the purposed of the mentioned Law?" Jones Act Law was the common name of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, this law supports the maritime workers, it was stated in the law the claims and the privileges of a maritime worker in the event that they suffers from an accident or a personal injury during their work. This serves as their protection to avoid negligence, because there were times that the company was not giving just privileges to their workers which was not supposed to be. As am maritime employee you must be protected as well and this was done by the Jones Act Law.

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Labor Law - Reasons For Unions

Ironically, the very entities, Big Business, which despises Labor Unions are the sole reason for their existence. As the nation entered into the Industrial Revolution, the factories in the cities became magnets for rural people yearning to make a decent living for their families.

Cities like Detroit, auto making capital, Pittsburg, steel king and hundreds of others watched their population swell to overabundance seemingly overnight.

These rural workers, black and white, along with their urban counterparts were a hearty bunch of people. They were used to long hours of hard work on the farm, barely scratching out a living. Many had never seen inside plumbing before coming to the city so they weren't the ungrateful type.

You would think the combination of cheap, hard working labor and, for that time, state of the art production methods, would be a marriage made in Business Heaven, and so it was, initially.

The time passed and the workers' families continued to live in squalor due to no decent housing being made available and low wages kept them from moving where decent housing did exist. The workers were forced to work long hours under unbearable conditions with little to show for it.

For instance, workers at a GM factory were forced to sit inside the factory for 5 hours without water or toilet facilities, while waiting for parts to arrive. In those days working 8 hours was just that...working. If the factory was closed down 3 hours for some reason, the workers were forced to work an additional 3 hours for no pay, to make production.

The treatment of workers with production speed ups, no pay increases, no medical benefits, in fact no benefits of any kind, began to breed unrest. This simmering unrest spawned the birth of Unions. The unions provided a means in which workers, as a collective unit, could present grievances to their employer in hopes of solving problems.

Big Business resoundly rebuked the idea of any union or group of workers telling them what to do with their company. Instead of acknowledging the Union as the workers bargaining agent, the companies hired thugs and strike breakers, Pemberton being the most vicious and infamous, to destroy the unions by whatever means they deemed necessary.

Soon picket lines where unions were on strike became the scene of bloody and at times deadly confrontations between workers, hired thugs and the police. The police were nearly always on the companies' side as the worker was viewed as breaking the peace and unlawfully occupying private property.

These bloody confrontations began gathering National attention when the National Guard was called out to break strikes. The idea of American soldiers firing on American citizens brought a public outcry which finally the politicians could no longer ignore.

President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Law, the single most important piece of labor law ever enacted, which granted the workers the right to organize into a Union. It allowed the union to be recognized as the workers sole bargaining unit capable of negotiating contracts for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

It's rather ironic that after years of outsourcing jobs and the Union membership numbers declining, the current treatment of American workers is rekindling the spark of unrest which originally created the need for a union.

In a perfect world of owners becoming wealthy yet sharing the wealth with the workers who produce it, there would be no need for a Union. However, as long as American business puts profits ahead of All else, ignoring society's needs and their obligations, there will always be a need for the Union.

Sadly, the events of corruption and greed displayed by people who operate the businesses the last few years, there is little doubt Unions should be considered an inherent right of every American to become a member of.

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Federal Labor Department's Rule-Making for Restaurants - Is It All Legal?

We have labor laws in the United States because there have been businesses which have taken advantage of employees in the past. They get them into a situation where they can quit their job, and then they start screwing around with their paychecks. It happens all the time, and it happens a lot in larger corporations than you might think, as they try to finagle a way to cut their labor costs. One industry the regulators want to crack down on is the restaurant sector.

Why you ask? Well, it has to do with the IRS, and the failure of many waiters and waitresses, and those who collect tips from reporting their income, but it also has to do with restaurant owners counting those tips as part of their pay, and taking it off their minimum wage. In other words the waitresses and waiters are working for tips only at that point.

This doesn't just happen in the restaurant business, it's also happened in the car wash business and many other industries. The authorities don't like it, and yet they don't have the wherewithal to completely enforce things, and therefore they wait for complaints to start their investigations.

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on June 17, 2011 by Julie Jargon which was titled "Restaurant Groups Sue Labor Department" which stated that "in April, the Labor Department amended the regulations In the Fair Labor Standards Act to state that restaurant owners now have to explain to each employee, in detail, the exact amount of tips that will be credited towards the minimum wage." And of course there will be an $1100 fine, as well as criminal penalties if the restaurants fail to do this, the new law started in May of 2011.

There is only one problem, the National Restaurant Association says that the Labor Department did not allow a 90 day period for the restaurant industry to make comments on the new law and now the labor department refuses to withdraw any part of the new rule or allow for a comment period which is typical of all new rule-making. Obviously, the article also noted that the restaurant industry has been hit hard do to increased commodity prices, and the struggling economy.

It is unfortunate, that the Federal Labor Department did not allow the restaurants a chance to comment on this rule-making session, and yet it is easily understood why. Nevertheless, arbitrary rule making without a full public comment period is enough to have corporate labor lawyers looking for answers. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

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Workplace Injuries On the Road

Each and every year, several thousand car owners and pedestrians alike are hurt in auto accidents. Though the majority of these arise on long trips, whilst picking up the kids from school or merely in transit from one place to another, many who end up in crashes are at work when it occurs. Truck drivers and delivery personnel might be the very first that spring to mind, but workplace incidents happen in vehicles on a regular basis.

Sales associates, construction workers, limo drivers, law enforcement, tour guides, taxi drivers and anyone who makes use of a vehicle for work is subject to the dangers met by all drivers. Warehouse personnel, car technicians and those behind the wheel of farm equipment could also file a claim. Even a minor accident that comes about along the way to a work-related business meeting, might be viewed as a workplace incident. If you've recently had a car accident, how do you recognize for sure if your injury is enough to apply for Worker's Compensation?

A workplace injury is seen as one that happens during the course of the typical workday. While the possible perils may not present themselves on a daily basis, if the injury manifested while you were on the job or participating in a work-related event, there's a good chance your employer's insurance provider could cover it. While it's generally easy to establish how the episode was related to the activity or profession itself, additional factors must be proved. If there are no witnesses, it could be all the more hard to prove that the damage was sustained through no fault of your own, while you were carrying out work responsibilities as usual. In case of car crashes, the business's insurance might pay it irrespective of whether the driver was at fault. In some states, an employer or co-employee is protected by Worker's Compensation regulations, and so the incident must arise due to another's misdeed or mistake to apply.

If you have been injured while accomplishing work, find medical help if needed. Make certain to document as thoroughly as possible the dangers, settings, and impact of the incident. Report the injury to your manager and fill in the important documents with as many details that you can.

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The Proper Use of a Durable Power of Attorney

It is not always possible for everyone to do their own business, and in many cases will need the help from another person to act on their behalf. In this case, they make use of a durable Power of attorney, which allows them to nominate a person they trust to do their business on their behalf. This particular person will then act in the same way, as they would have if they were the owner of the business. You have to, really understand what the word "durable" means in this case, which is that this person you are nominating will only act on your behalf when you cannot do it anymore. This normally happens when you are seriously ill, or you were in an accident and cannot work for a certain period.

As a business owner, there can probably be nothing worse than knowing you are ill and you have nobody to run your business. The amount of money you can loose will contribute to you not recovering as fast as you would have, when knowing you have somebody reliable looking after your affairs. If you nominate someone via a durable Power of Attorney, you will be the principle and the person you decide upon will be the agent. If something happens to you, your agent can sign on legal documents the same as what you would have done. This particular document will not come into action until the day that you cannot see to your business, of course only due to illness or an accident.

The law actually states that the person you do decide upon to act on your behalf must have integrity and be honest. They will not allow you to nominate someone who will do fraudulent business with your money, which protects business wise. The agent must act in such a way that whatever they do will be in the best interest for your company as well as for yourself. With a durable Power of Attorney, you only give your agent the right to act on your behalf, so if you agree to an amount, which you will pay your agent, you need to set this up in another written contract apart from this form.

There are some institutions, which will accept a verbal durable Power of Attorney, but when it comes to places like your hospitals and banks, you can be sure that they will expect this agreement to be in writing. This is mainly to protect your interests as well as theirs. Imagine you cannot look after yourself anymore and you are dependable on someone else, but not the agent you want to act on your behalf and this other person is trying to steal your money by indicating you have a verbal agreement. The amount of assets you can loose through such an act is endless, and therefore the written agreement is better, as it will help you the day when you cannot help yourself or talk for yourself.

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Worker's Compensation Overview

Workers compensation is a sort of insurance policy that is promised by employers to their employees. If someone is at work and they sustain some sort of work related injury then the employer will make some concessions to that worker. These can be in the form of health care, continued payment, or even in the form of a death payment to the workers next of kin. The purpose of this is to relieve the burden from the injured worker and make things easier on them because their injury is the fault of the employer.

However, this relief does come at a price. In order to receive workers compensation benefits the worker must sign a release that forfeits their right to sue the employer for negligence or any other tort claim. This generally means that claims for pain and suffering and punitive damages are rarely seen in workers compensation cases.

The amount of the workers compensation package will be dependent on quite a few things. First, it will be dependent on how the worker was injured in the first place. The more egregious the employers lapse in judgment or the more outrageous the negligence was the higher the package tends to be. This is all done in an attempt to avoid litigation. Second, it will depend on the type of injury. If the worker was killed due to the negligence of the employer this will needless to say be a high payout. However, it the worker has only been slightly injured and can still work in some capacity that they are reasonably qualified for by reason of the experience, education or training then the payout will be less. In a situation like this the worker may be put on light duty and given a desk job for the time being.

Worker compensation laws are anything but uniform. They can vary greatly depending on what state would are working in at the time of the injury. Each state has separate laws that govern workers compensations. The federal government also has its own separate set of WC laws for its workers. The law can have a great affect on the payout and options of the worker. As such it is advisable to contact a local attorney for assistance in any workers compensation case that may arise.

From the employers side

There is insurance that employers can get that will protect them in the event that one of their employees is injured on the job. This insurance will help the employer pay for the medical cost, lump sum payments, or continued salaries that may be associated with a WC claim.

As a waiver of rights and a release that forces the worker to promise not to sue is generally a prerequisite to receiving any workers compensation benefits it is very advisable that the worker should contact a local attorney to discuss their options and access if taking a worker's compensation package is a good deal or if the worker would have a better time suing the company. This would allow the worker to collect punitive damages as well as damages for the pain and suffering that they endured during their ordeal.

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