Question

It is legal’s responsibility to inform HR of changes in the external environment that could impact employee deals, ie: flexible work schedules.

Answer 1

Yes, the legal team is responsible for updating HR of the changes in the external environment or any update to the employment law. In an organization, the Human Resources team is responsible to keep track of its legal matters. Since it is pertinent for organizations to keep abreast of the legal issues, separate legal team or employment law specialists or retaining an outside counsel helps the HR team to be updated of the employment laws and the legal trends to avoid any legal consequences. Other ways that an HR can keep track of the changes in the employment laws are:

• Subscribing to the Society for Human Resource Management
• Appointment of employment law attorney
• Subscribing to the Department of Labor
• Website review of BLR-HR

There are also commissions that regulate and enforce the changes or updates in the employment laws such as flexible work schedules, period allotted for maternity leave, etc. Such commissions are Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. If the commission finds that any employer violates the standards or rules of the employment laws, then the employer will be levied with fines and they need to face legal consequences. Thus, it is pertinent that all the employers get a current update of the changes in the employment laws.