Employment law in Bismarck North Dakota is wide-ranging and protects the interests of employees. Employment law prohibits discrimination upholds protection for the prohibited classes. It ensures that the employees get a fair wage, have a safe working environment, equal pay, and many more. Not only does the employment law protect employees but it also ensures that the employer is aware of the employee rights and prepares them to mitigate legal risk in their business. For this reason, employment lawyers Bismarck ND can advise business owners on contracts, negotiations, and other related employment disputes.

The federal employment law applicable in North Dakota provides for accommodations for pregnancy, health care coverage, overtime, and even jury duty leave. All employers must comply with such employment requirements laid down by both the State and federal law. 

North Dakota Employment laws 

1. The North Dakota Human Rights Act (NDHRA) was enacted to apply to Employers who have one or more than one employee for a duration of a quarter of the year. This is applicable regardless of the location, type of industry, or number of employees. This piece of legislation also protects employees from discrimination at the workplace. The grounds on which discrimination is prohibited are race, religion, sex, disability, nationality, age, marital status, public assistance status, and even discrimination based on any activity conducted outside of the workplace which is not in conflict with the current business’s activity or its interests. The NDHRA also prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace and forms a part of illegal discrimination in the workplace. 

2. Equal Pay for Men and Women: North Dakota also has in place the Equal Pay for Men and Women Act to ensure that men and women working in the same place, doing similar work will be remunerated similarly. This ensures that if men and women have a similar skill set, effort, and responsibilities on the job, there should be no reason why they are not paid equally. It does limit differences in pay based on seniority, merit or quantity, or quality of production, education, training, etc. It is only if the difference in pay is due to the gender of the person, will they be covered under the Act and will be compensated justly. 

3. Wage and Hour: The minimum wage in North Dakota is $7.25 per hour, in keeping with federal law. For overtime, Employment law in Bismarck North Dakota requires the employer to provide for overtime to employees at a rate that is one and a half times more than that the minimum/ regular rate of pay. Overtime is usually calculated based upon workers who have worked more than forty hours in a week. Employment law firm Bismarck ND can guide you much better here. 

4. Pay and Benefits: the Employment law in North Dakota requires employers to provide health care continuation coverage law for up to 39 weeks. This has to be provided not only to the employees but also to any dependents who might have lost such coverage due to termination of employment. While the federal continuation coverage under COBRA takes into consideration the reason for termination, Employment law in North Dakota does not and is available regardless. The law also requires the employers to pay the employees their owed amount by either ash or check with the most convenience possible. It also has to be paid at least once every calendar month to maintain frequency. Along with this pay, the employers have to also provide a “pay statement” that shows the number of hours the employee has worked, the rate at which they receive their pay, any deductions that have been made by way of state or federally mandated taxes or any deductions made by the employer. These deductions have to be legal, reasonable, and well documented. One should hire employment lawyers Bismarck ND if one is not getting the above mentioned benefits from employer. 

This is only a part of the rights that employees and employers in Bismarck ND have to keep in mind. Expert Employment lawyers Bismarck ND will better equip you to handle and understand any and all employment-related disputes. They will inform you of your course of action and guide you to seek legal remedies against any employment-related issues. Licensed and practicing employment lawyers can also advise businesses about the setups they should take to minimize any employment-related disputes at their workplace to maintain a safe, happy and legal environment for their employees.