EMPLOYER LIABILITIES/EMPLOYEE RIGHTS

This research explores the relationship between employer liabilities and employee rights. The agency system in American government is reviewed, as are the more specific responsibilities of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Social Security Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board of the United States Department of Labor. Selected areas of related employer liability and employee rights are examined.

The Agency System in American Government

An overview of the agency system is presented in this section. Following this presentation, the size and complexity of the federal agency system are discussed briefly.

A careful reading of the Constitution of the United States would not prepare an individual for an understanding of the role of bureaucratic agencies in the federal government of this country. The Constitution charges the President and the Congress with the business of making laws and discharging government. Both the President and the Congress, however, have transferred some of their authority to quasi independent governmental agencies.1 The President retains some authority through the power to appoint the administrators of the various agencies, while the Congress retains some authority through the enactment

1Steve Kelman, Making Public Policy (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 88.

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Category: Government - E