ABSTRACT
This chapter explores legal issues in the workplace related to employee compensation, workplace safety and health standards, and workers’ compensation for work-related injuries. How effectively we manage these issues in the workplace can significantly impact worker productivity and organizational success. The Department of Labor (DOL) administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws related to workplace activities (U.S. Dept. of Labor, n.d.d). These regulations cover workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 130 million workers. Obviously, we cannot examine each of these laws. Instead, we introduce some legal requirements that regularly impact workers in sport and recreation organizations. You will recall that the employment relationship is a contractual relationship between an employer and an employee. Issues surrounding that contractual relationship were presented in Chapter 4. In addition to restraints or limitations arising from the employment contract, federal and state laws also provide for a number of regulations affecting employers and employees.
