A Comparison Of The US And Yemeni Labor And Employment Law

A Comparison of the US and Yemeni Labor and Employment Law

Group 1:

Ahmed Al Tashi

Akram Ali

Ali Al Agri

Ali Al Kashmari

Faris Al Twaity

Ibrahim Muflih

Khalid Al Katta'

Mohamed Rizq

Mujeeb Sultan

Nabil Al Badaji

Arab Academy for Banking and Finance

MBA - English

Human Resources

Dr. AbdulRahman Al Sharjabi

March 25, 2012

Introduction

As globalization evolves rabidly affecting all international markets, organizations are forced to operate internationally to gain competitive advantage and survive in a very competitive market. Organizations which choose to extend its domain and work in more than a country get different advantage such as cost saving resulting from low labor, material, rent and other operating costs that are different from one country to another. However working in other country than the organization's country of origin confronts the organizations with different challenges resulting from the differences in the internal and external environment that affect the organization in different locations. One of the most important challenges that can face an organization that decide to work overseas is the factors related to labor and employment laws of the host countries compared with that of the organization's home country.

During last couple of decades many American organizations start to establish their business in Yemen as part of their international domain. This includes NGOs as well as private companies. Such organizations usually have diverse employees where local and foreign staff work together in the organization office(s) in Yemen which usually has its top management at the home office in US. This work environment made results in lots of challenges that the organization will have to face and work carefully and professionally to overcome them. Workers' rights, benefits, obligations and responsibilities are of a key challenge that organizations have to take into consideration Yemeni labor law as well as their home country labor and employment law as well in order to be in the safest and appropriate position in this regard.

This paper will highlight the main issues that an American organization working in Yemen would face in relation to labor. The paper will illustrate a general comparison of the Yemeni and US labor and employment law focusing on areas that are more likely of an issue for both the Yemeni employee as well as an organization that comes to work in Yemen with a US perspective and background. The paper will discuss areas such as; employee wages, benefits, working hours, overtime, discrimination and sex harassment.

The authors of this paper believe that this kind of comparison and even more detailed studies on this topic should prove very helpful for any US organization that have its business in Yemen. It should be helpful for the organization management to be aware of where they should stand legally in terms of their relationship with the local employees and the Yemeni government in order that it ensures obeying by the local laws and being fair enough to its employees so that it gains their loyalty and willingness to take the extra mileage to help the organization achieve its goals. It should be helpful as well for the local employees to be aware of their rights and obligations as per law, to understand where their organizations come from so this would make it easier to tackle any conflict that might take place because of different laws and practices. As the local employees and their unions are aware of the US law they can also work for the best options for the employees whenever they have the Yemeni law gives more space for the employee and employer to agree on certain practice or benefit as far as they are not violating the local laws. Finally, such kind of studies is important for academic, legal institute that are interested in comparative studies that can result in further improvement in the laws, practices and regulations of either countries or even in more international standards that can be agreed upon by different countries as way of governing and controlling international business in the rapidly globalized market.

About the two Labor laws

Consisted of 163 articles divided into 15 chapters, the Yemeni Labor Law [code] was first released on 1995, Law number 5. On 1997 a governmental decree was released as an addition to the 1995 Labor Code. This decree define the labor fees for the work that is being done by the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. This law is a key tool for the Yemeni government represented by the Ministry of Social Security, Social Affairs and Labor, in order to ensure fair, healthy and productive relationship between employers and employees. The code identifies different issues related to rules on employment, contracts of employment, employees benefits, rights and obligations, regulations on women and young people employment, and regulations on work in general. The code also states the steps, and process need to take place when dispute take place due to any claim of violation of the labor law such as discrimination, abuse, fraud or misconduct. The code explains the different levels of dispute settlement and the duration of each step under the supervision of the ministry of social security, social affairs and labor. (Labor Law, undated)

On the other hand the US has a longer history with labor and employment laws that have been passed by the Congress at the federal level which apply to all the states of the US. These laws are aiming at regulating the employment relationship and protecting employees. The first employment law was passed by the Congress on 1866 named Civil Rights Act followed by the Civil Right Act of 1871 and other laws evolved with time. Main laws that impacted the employment relationship were; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, American with Disabilities Act of 1990, Civil Rights Act of 1991 and Family and Medical Leave Act of 1992. (Mello, 2006; Pynes, 2009)

Employment-at-will

Majority