Image source www.career.brooklyn.cuny.edu
Labor law violations are considered a serious matter and are punishable by law. Employees must know what their rights are and how to assert them in the workplace.
Here are just a few of the important rights that employees must be aware of:
- The right to be protected from any form of discrimination - the term “discrimination” is a very broad term and encompasses a wide aspect of our lives. No person should be discriminated at work because of his/her sex, gender, sexual preference, pregnancy, beliefs, age, disability, etc.
- The right to a harassment-free workplace - everyone deserves to work in a place where one would feel safe from any form of harassment
- The right to fair pay - there are a lot of laws that protect your right to be paid no less than the minimum wage, to be paid a premium for working overtime or over the usual maximum amount of hours per week.
Labor laws are passed and amended in every state and every nation for the protection of the rights of human beings in their ability as workers, wage earners or members of the work force. Classification of workers varies extensively depending on the type of industry that is being covered. However, there are some universal practices that apply no matter what industry you fall under like minimum wage, good working conditions, fair labor practices for women and children and the likes.
The advertising industry is no exception to this. One of the things that distinguish the advertising industry from other forms of businesses is that it actually is part and parcel of every other business endeavor. And since the advertising industry uses more mediums than any other industry, it also has the widest range of labor workforce and falls under all legislation dealing with human labor.
It’s delusory to misrepresent either directly or indirectly, that a product offers a general environmental benefit. Your ads should qualify broad environmental claims or should avoid them altogether to prevent deception about the specific nature of the benefit. Furthermore, your ads shouldn’t imply significant environmental benefits if the benefit isn’t significant. For example, a trash bag is labeled “recyclable” without qualification. Because trash bags ordinarily are not being separated from other trash for recycling from a landfill or incinerator, it is unlikely that they will be used again. Technically, the bag may be “recyclable,” but the claim is deceptive because it asserts an environmental benefit where there is no remarkable or meaningful benefit.
(Source:FTC,gov)
The Internet provides unprecedented opportunities for the collection and sharing of information
from and about its consumers. But recent studies show that consumers have very strong concerns about the security and confidentiality of their personal information in the online marketplace. Many consumers also report being doubtful of engaging in online commerce, in part because they fear that their personal information can be misused.
These consumer concerns present an opportunity for you to build on consumer trust by implementing effective voluntary industry-wide practices to protect consumers’ information privacy. The FTC has held a number of workshops for industry, consumer groups and privacy advocates to explore industry guidelines to protect consumers’ privacy online.
(Source:FTC.gov)
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act forbids lenders from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, sex, age, receipt of public assistance income, or an applicant’s good faith exercise of any rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The ECOA requires creditors to provide applicants with the reasons why a credit was denied if the applicant asks.
The Electronic Fund Transfer Act establishes the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of participants in electronic fund transfer systems. The EFTA strictly requires participants to follow certain practices when they deal with transaction accounting and pre authorized transfers and error resolution, and sets liability limits for losses caused by unauthorized transfers.
The Consumer Leasing Act sets personal property leases that surpass 4 months and are made to consumers for personal, family, or household purposes. The statute requires that certain lease costs and terms be divulge, imposes limitations on the size of penalties for delinquency and on the size of residual liabilities, and in some instances, requires certain disclosures in lease advertising.
(Source:FTC.gov)
The Fair Credit Billing Act is important to a creditor who are billing customers for goods or services. The Act requires you to accept consumer billing complaints promptly in writing and to investigate billing errors submitted to you. The Act prohibits creditors from taking actions that adversely affect the consumer’s credit standing until the investigation is completed, and affords other consumer protections during disputes. The Act also requires that creditors promptly post payments to the consumer’s account, and either refund over payments or credit them to the consumer’s account.
(Source:FTC.gov)
The FTC Act strictly prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. Advertising either through media or net must tell the truth and not mislead its consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that’s not true at all. As an example, a lease advertisement for an automobile that promotes “$0 Down” may be misleading if significant and undisclosed charges are due at lease signing. Furthermore, claims must be substantiated, especially when they concern health, safety, or performance. If your ad specifies a certain level of support for a claim - “tests show X” - you must have at least that level of support. Sellers are responsible for claims they make about their products and services. Third parties - such as advertising agencies or website designers and catalog marketers - also may be liable for making or disseminating deceptive representations if they participate in the preparation or distribution of the advertising, or know about the deceptive claims of the seller.
(Source:FTC.gov)
Nowadays, the Internet is already a medium to connect advertisers to customers with text, interactive graphics, video and audio. If you’re planning about advertising on the Internet, put in mind that many of the same rules that apply to other forms of advertising apply also to electronic marketing. These rules and guidelines protect businesses and consumers and help maintain the credibility of the Internet as one advertising medium.
The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in behalf of the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. Interpreting Section 5 of the FTC Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:
- mislead consumers
- affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service.
Moreover, an act or practice is unfair if the injury it causes, or is likely to cause, is:
- substantial
- not outweighed by other benefits
- not reasonably avoidable.
(Source:FTC.gov)
Bait advertising is a tempting but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its objective is to lead consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the benefit of the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying merchandise of the type so advertised.
(Source:FTC.gov)
