The Human Resource Department has many legal laws, safety laws and requirements to abide by to prevent law suits against companies. The Human Resource Department must follow the rules given by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Department of Homeland Security, and many other laws. Each law is accompanied by a set of regulations cover all aspects about the law. These laws were put in place to prevent any manager from feeling like they can fire or mistreat any employee without probable cause. To completely understand the Human Resource Law, anyone in a Human Resource position has to have the knowledge of their job and the resources to look up additional information if needed to prevent lawsuits. The Human Resource Department is responsible for keeping records, writing and implementing good HR policies and monitoring the firm’s Human Resource Department closely. The U.S. Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws. These mandates and the regulations that implement them cover many workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 125 million workers. The U.S. Department of Labor’s mission is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. Some of the major laws of the Department of Labor include the Fair Labor Standards AC (FLSA), The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH) which is administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) and the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). When an employee is encountered with any issue regarding their employment at any organization, the Department of Labor can assist with knowing the rights of that employee.
The chart below is the organizational chart of the U.S. Department of Labor in depth.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by EEOC laws (20 employees in age discrimination cases). Most labor unions and employment agencies are also covered.
The laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has three major regulations. The first is processing the discrimination complaints; the second is issuing written regulations, and the third is information gathering and dissemination. When an employee feels they have been discriminated, the process begins with the filing of a complaint to the EEOC which begins the investigation followed by conciliation, and litigation. In 2007, the EEOC had a total of 82,792 filed cases in which 37% were associated with race, sex/gender was 30%, age was 23%, disability was 21%, national origin 9%, religion 3% and equal pay 1% (Managing Human Resources, 2010). With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. The OSH Act covers employers and their employees either directly through federal OSHA or through an OSHA-approved state program. State programs must meet or exceed federal OSHA standards for workplace safety and health. Federal agencies must have a safety and health program that meet the same standards as private employers. Although OSHA does not fine federal agencies, it does monitor federal agencies and responds to workers' complaints. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is covered by OSHA. The Human Resource department has to deal with legal, safety and regulatory requirements on a daily basis. Understanding and knowing the laws will help to prevent managers from putting any organization into a lawsuit filed my employees. The Human Resource dept works with managers to make sure that written policies are in place, communication of the policy are understood by the employees. Common sense and compassion has been replaced by litigation. There used to be times when employees trusted that their employers would treat them right. Employees didn’t feel any threats of losing their job due to illness, race, age or sex. Many organizations have hostile environments where employers feel they can do what they want and when they want. People are not treated fairly and that’s the reason laws had to be put in place to protect the working class. Managers who take their power to another level have caused employees to file complaints. More and more lawsuits of discrimination are filed due to the negligence of employers. Just because a manager is put in a position to manage, that doesn’t mean the manager knows the job and how to treat people fairly. We are all humans working to make a living but when someone feels like they’re being mistreated; they have no other choice but to defend themselves. Complying with the human resource law is important because it’s the right thing to do. It helps managers truly understand the human resource department laws in which everyone must abide by and it helps the firm from potentially having lawsuits filed.