Professional Custom Accounting Papers: Legal Research into an Employment Law Pending Before Congress
Legal Research into an Employment Law Pending Before Congress
Organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Management (http://www.shrm.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) work hard to support, lobby against, or provide education to the public about laws that will affect workers and employers. These organizations significantly influence what laws pass. Savvy HR managers have SHRM on their desktops so they are familiar with the many changes being suggested at any time, as they could cost companies significant amounts of money if they are passed.
Each year, thousands of proposed laws are being discussed, debated, and either passed, ignored, or rejected in state legislators around the country, or in Congress.
Find a proposed piece of legislation in the U.S. (or your state legislature) which interests you. This piece of legislation needs to regard employment law in some way (labor law, employment discrimination, ADA, PPACA, Title VII, GINA, etc.) Note that any bill that suggests changes to any current law will suffice, as well as a new law. Some examples you can use if you are interested are: the Fair Playing Field Act of 2012, the Religious Freedom Act of 2012, or a new bill regarding whether full-time employment under PPACA is 40 hours/week instead of 30 hours. (Since the time of writing this project, it is possible these examples of passed – be sure to check if you use any of them).
Places to look for legislation like this include:
1. Congress.gov. http://www.congress.gov (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
(Note that the Active Legislation link (right side) and Most Viewed Bills side include unpassed, pending legislation. the Public Laws link are passed laws – so do not use those.)
1. Govtrack.US https://www.govtrack.us/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Note: you can type in your state, and get updates your state’s representatives to Congress.
SHRM’s legislative pages: http://www.shrm.org/legalissues/federalresources/federallegislation/pages/default.aspx# (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
(Note that link takes you to the top level – and you can dig around on their links to find more information. Some of the internal pages may require a subscription to SHRM, however.)
Once you find a law pending before Congress that interests you, read the bill and answer these questions.
1. What is the name of the bill? What is the resolution number of the bill (e.g., HR 212)?
2. Does the bill you selected create a new law or amend an existing law?
3. If this bill is passed, how will it change current employment law? Be specific here and include enough detail so that someone reading your answer really understanding the bill under consideration.
4. State whether you agree or disagree with the bill. If you were a member of Congress would you vote for it? Explain why.
This section of your paper should be about 1 to 2 pages.
