Human rights vs Workers’ rights

Workers’ Rights and Human Rights

Workers’ rights are a set of legal and asserted human rights that concern labor relations between workers and their employees. Human rights, on the other hand, are fundamental rights that individuals have by virtue of being human in nature and are not created or removed by any authority. Unlike workers’ rights, which come into play only while one is employed, human rights come into play whenever one breaches the rights of another person. Some human rights are part of workers’ rights; nonetheless, human rights always come first. There is something genuinely attractive in the idea that every person anywhere in the world, irrespective of citizenship or national legislation, has some fundamental rights which others should respect (Amartya, 316).

The Necessity of Workers’ Rights

Most of us spend our time working hence workers’ rights such as the prohibition of slavery, forced labor and others are necessary. The major advantage of having workers’ rights is that it prevents exploitation and humiliation while working. Even though human rights are in existence, labor rights can get into details as to what should and should not happen in the workplace.

Empowerment through Human Rights

Human rights are valuable to employees since they give them more power and allow them to have more opportunities for groups in the society, giving them improved access and leading to equality regarding employment. Human rights and social work explore how the principles of human rights inform contemporary social work practices (Ife, 12). Lots of women and girls around the world working as domestic workers in private households, perform essential tasks for their employer, such tasks may include cooking, cleaning and even taking care of elderly family members. Despite this level of hard jobs, they are the most exploited and abused workers in the world and are paid wages that are far below the minimum.

Rights for All Workers

The rights offered to citizens apply to workers too, rights such as equality, privacy are especially useful to workers. Employees are entitled to forming and joining trade unions and participate in their activities. However, such rights may not be enjoyed by all humans in a country since some countries may be immigrants and sex workers who may not report oppression and abuses done in the line of work. Hence such people will continue to collaborate regardless of any rights being abused. To ensure the protection of such people, Title VII of civil rights offer protection extended to undocumented workers (Ontiveros, 607).

Employer Responsibilities

Employers have the responsibility to create a work environment where all employees are treated with respect ensuring there is no discrimination or harassment in the workplace. They should make sure that all people are treated with dignity and that they enjoy their rights. If the company or institution is aware that an entity it works with for example a supplier, contractor or a government agency is abusing human rights, the company is compliant in the abuse if it encourages or ignores the behavior. Human rights law, allow channels for redressing complaints regarding equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. Edelman, Erlanger and Lande argue that employees can encourage the use of internal complaint procedures in an attempt to satisfy their claims (501). In conclusion, both workers’ and human rights are important in ensuring that the employees have a healthy work environment.

Work Sited

Amartya, Sen. “Elements of a theory of human rights.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 32.4 (2004): 315-356.

Ife, Jim. Human rights and social work: Towards rights-based practice. Cambridge University Press.

Ontiveros, Maria L. “To Help Those Most in Need: Undocumented Worker’s Rights and Remedies under Title VII.” NYU Rev. L. & Soc. Change 20 (1992): 607.

Edelman, Lauren B., Howard S. Erlanger, and John Lande. “Internal dispute resolution: The transformation of civil rights in the workplace.” Law and Society Review (1993): 497-534.