• Labor laws are designed to offer benefits to workers.welder at work image by Sergejs Kostjucenko from Fotolia.com
  
  Labor laws provide numerous benefits to employees, such as minimum wage, on-site safety standards, workers compensation and other laws intended to ensure workers' rights in their relationship with their employers. Benefits vary widely around the world and even between the different states in the U.S. In some geographical areas, labor laws provide for extensive benefits to workers, whereas in others laws are weaker and sometimes provide greater benefit for the employers.
  
  

Minimum Wage

• The United States provides for a federal minimum wage.wristwatch and dollar bills image by Squareplum from Fotolia.com
  
  One of the most basic benefits of labor laws is minimum wage. In the United States, there is a federal minimum wage, which was set at $7.25 on July 24, 2009. However, some states also have minimum wage standards that are higher than the federal minimum, such as Washington state, which was set at $8.55 in 2009. There are exceptions to the federal minimum wage and that of many states, such as wages for tipped employees, students and workers with disabilities. Such wages are also based on a 40-hour work week and employees who work more than 40 hours in one week are entitled to overtime pay.
  
  

Workplace Safety

• Many labor laws provide for safe working conditions.safety warning image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
  
  Labor laws are also intended to ensure that employers provide safe and hospitable working conditions. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, for example, requires employers to make workplaces as safe as possible given the nature of the work, inform employees of any hazardous working conditions that might be present, and report any injuries that occur to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). There are penalties for employers who fail to meet the set standards.
  
  

Other Working Conditions

• Many employees have the right to some privacy at the workplace.cam??ra de s??curit?? de 3/4. image by Bruno Bernier from Fotolia.com
  
  Employees are also required under federal law to provide working conditions that do not violate employees' basic rights. Such laws prohibit lie detector tests and various forms of harassment, such as sexual harassment, as well as discrimination on the basis of race and gender. They also protect "whistle-blowers," workers who report legal violations made by their employers. Additional rights are often provided under state law depending on the state in which an employer is located.
  
  

Workers Compensation

• Workers compensation programs constitute another benefit to employees by providing compensation for employees who have been injured on the job, regardless of how they were hurt. Injured employees can be reimbursed for their medical expenses and for pain and suffering which result from the injury. The federal program only covers federal employees and not all states have workers' compensation statutes. In some states, the amount an inured worker can recover is limited and the employee is prohibited from suing their employer in court, so this also provides some benefit to employers.