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Sample Law Assignment on Agency and Employment Law

Purpose of Assignment

Employment costs are arguably a business’s biggest expense. Consider how employment law regulates concepts such as discrimination, injuries on the job, employee vs. independent contractor, wrongful discharge, and unionization, to name a few. As you research for this assignment, consider the decisions made in this area are much more than business decisions but, in fact, impact lives. How do we reconcile between hurting employees and impacting the bottom-line? This is much tougher than it appears.

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Legal Environment of Business: Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and Global Issues: Ch. 18, 19, 20, and 21. 

Scenario: As employment costs continue to escalate, it is incumbent upon organizations to continually monitor its internal operations to ensure best practices are being followed. To that end, your CEO has asked you to prepare a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.

Prepare a SWOT analysis in one of the following formats:

• A maximum 825-word written analysis in Microsoft^® Word.

Examine the following:

• Consider the impact a principal and agent creates on the business and its employees.
• Compare how express, implied, and apparent authority created by the principal and agent impacts equal opportunities for employees.
• Identify the laws protecting workers against discriminatory practices.
• Evaluate how the legal protections present in the workplace differ for employee and independent contractors.

Answer

Agency and Employment Law

Employment costs have increased in different parts of the globe. In the United States, a 0.6% rise in the costs was noted in the third quarter of the year 2015. This was associated with a 0.6% increment in wages and salaries and 0.5% rise in benefits (Davidson, 2015). Organizations should continually monitor their internal operations and adopt best practices to minimize such costs.

The Impact of a Principal and Agent on Business and its Employees

Principals and agents are usually guided by fiduciary relationships whereby the later acts on behalf of the former. Markedly, the agent negotiates and transacts business with third parties. The principal-agent relationship occurs when an employee is hired and acquires the authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the employer (Cheeseman, 2014). The key strengths that are associated with this relationship is that employers gain some level of control over the business operations as they are assured that the employee will be available for a specified period. This is advantageous unlike when dealing with independent contractors who may not be available to handle time-sensitive tasks. Moreover, businesses get an opportunity to tailor employee training according to their specific needs or practices. This enhances their performance abilities leading to efficiency and effectiveness (Pearson, 2017). The arrangement also confers benefits to employees since they are compensated for their time and performance. Besides, they are reimbursed for any expenses that are incurred when performing tasks that are authorized by their employers or those within the scope of agency (Cheeseman, 2014). However, the employers pay the workers’ social security contributions as well as withholding federal, state, or local taxes. Employees have to be given benefits such as health insurance and time paid off which increases the business expenses.

Impacts of Express, Implied, and Apparent Authority on Equal Employment Opportunities

Express authority is attained where the principal clearly outlines the activities that the agent should accomplish. Implied authority is not specifically expressed in writing but involves scenarios where the agents do what is reasonably necessary to accomplish their duties. Apparent agency occurs when a principal fakes the existence of an agency (Cheeseman, 2014). Express and implied authorities do not impact negatively on equal employment opportunities since they are founded on existing opportunities. For instance, an organization commissions its employees to accomplish the tasks that are outlined in their job descriptions through express authority. However, the employees have to use implied authority to do whatever is reasonably acceptable to achieve their goals. They are also compensated for their efforts implying that they experience gainful employment. Conversely, apparent authority has a negative implication on equal employment opportunities since the activities undertaken under such terms are not legally binding. Employees may not have access to the benefits that arise from employment due to the shady nature of apparent authority. This is an inherent weakness in such agency agreements and a threat to equal employment opportunities.

Laws Protecting Workers against Discriminatory Practices

There are several federal laws that protect employees from discrimination. For instance, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 empowers workers to sue their employers for paycheck violations within 180 days after their occurrence. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gives equal contractual rights to citizens, thereby, prohibiting racial discrimination in employment (Cheeseman, 2014). Additionally, gender discrimination is prohibited through the Pregnancy Discrimination Act which prohibits employers from treating female workers differently due to pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions arising from these factors. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 discrimination of workers on the basis of race or religious beliefs (Cheeseman, 2014). Organizations are required to accommodate their employees’ religious beliefs as long as they do not negatively affect the employer. Besides, the Equal Pay Act protects workers from gender-based discriminatory practices in relation to compensation for equal skill, responsibility, and working conditions. Older employees are also protected from discrimination through the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Older Workers Benefit Protection Act. Persons with disabilities are protected by Americans with Disabilities Act which prohibits employers from discriminating such individuals who are rightfully qualified for job opportunities (Cheeseman, 2014). Besides, prejudice against such persons during compensation, training and development, promotion, as well as termination is prohibited.

Differences in Legal Protections for Employees and Independent Contractors

Independent contractors are employed on a casual basis by businesses and individuals. Their work arrangements are founded on either oral or written agreements. Independent contractors have an obligation to complete their responsibilities as outlined by their agreements with businesses. However, they do not have access to many legal protections compared with employees (FindLaw, 2017). For instance, they have to pay and file their taxes as firms do not withhold them. Independent contractors do not have a right to unemployment and worker compensation benefits unlike employees. Besides, their work relationship can be arbitrarily terminated unless specified otherwise in a contract. Independent contractors are not eligible for compensation for working overtime hours. They are not covered by employment anti-discrimination and workplace safety laws that normally protect employees (FindLaw, 2017). Moreover, they cannot join unions while employees can form unions to facilitate collective bargaining.

Conclusion

Employers can choose to work with employees or independent contractors. Either decision is associated with benefits and disadvantages. Employees enjoy more legal protections compared to independent contractors. However, organizations may incur more costs in training employees. Using employees gives employers more control over the work relationship unlike when dealing with independent contractors. Organizations should focus on ensuring that their employment practices align with the outlined legal protections to minimize the associated costs.

References

Cheeseman, H. R. (2014). The legal environment of business and online commerce: Business ethics, e-commerce, regulatory, and international issues. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Davidson, K. (2015). U.S. employment costs rise 0.6%, suggesting new wage pressure: Update. CC Commodity Info Services LLP. Retrieved from www.commoditiescontrol.com/commodity-market/dowjonescommoditiesnews/us-employment-costs-rise-06-suggesting-new-wage-pressure-update-20151030DN009031.html

FindLaw (2017). Being an independent contractor vs. employee. FindLaw. Retrieved from http://employment.findlaw.com/hiring-process/being-an-independent-contractor-vs-employee.html

Pearson, O. (2017). Advantages and disadvantages of hiring an employee. Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-hiring-employee-18966.html

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Instructions

1. EXPLAIN, WITH THE HELP OF A DIAGRAM, THE EFFECT ON PRICE AND QUANTITY DEMANDED OF A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING CAMPAIGN FOR A PRODUCT DURING A PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH SUPPLY DOES NOT CHANGE. (75 words + Diagram)
In this question, supply is constant meaning they are testing the law of demand and its effects on prIce and quantity demanded. When it states a period of successful marketing campaign , it means the product is not in the introduction stage but has already penetrated the market and is well known by the consumers so the demand is constantly rising. Rise in demand results while supply is constant results in a rise in price of the particular good.

The result is that due to limiting factors eg income, initially, peolple will demand less of the good due to increased prices so there will be a CHNAGE IN QUANTITY DEMANDED. This is a change along the demand curve n.b ALONG THE DEMAND CURVE.

When the situation continues, there shall be emergence of substitute products in form of competition (competitive products) these will make the consumer have a change of preference for the competitor product. This there fore will mean a change in demand which is a shit of the demand curve.

SHIFT OF THE DEMAND CURVE.

THE DIAGRAM EXPECTED IS A COMBINATION OF A SHIFT IN DEMAND CURVE(Going for alternatives)  AND ALONG THE DEMAND CURVE(going for lower quantity of the product to cut on costs).
N.B ONE DIAGRAM SHOWING BOTH EFFECTS.

kindly draw rather than picking from the net. check out: http://www.wadsworthmedia.com/marketing/sample_chapters/0324595425_ch03.pdf

There is a topic on CHANGE IN DEMAND VERSUS CHANGE IN QUANTITY DEMANDED.

ANSWER

Section A

Question One

A successful market campaign serves to influence the preferences of consumers. Due to the changes in consumer preferences, demand of the said product will go up but since the supply does not change, the increase in demand coupled with no change in supply in the short run, will lead to an increase in the price of the product.

Fig 1: Effects of marketing on the price and quantity demanded of a product.

Source:  Gregory N.W. (2011)

P₀ is the original price while P₁ is the new price. D₀ is the original demand and D₁ is the new demand. Q₀ is the original quantity while Q₁ depicts the change in quantity demanded. In this case there is a change in the quantity supplied but no change in supply, since the change in preferences will not alter a firms desire to sell at any given price but only alters the consumers desire to buy at any given price.

Question Two

Fig 2: Effect of decrease in supply on price.

Source: Bromley R (2006)

A strike by workers affect the supply of a product negatively and thus the supply curve shifts to the left, this influences the equilibrium price to move up from P₁ to P₂ , the demand curve does not shift but the quantity demanded  decreases from Q₁ to Q₂ . A firm thus sells less but at a higher price, (Bromley, 2006)

Question Three

Fig 3: Simultenous increase in demand and supply.

price                                                                               S

S1

P

D                      D1

Q                    Q1                               quantity

Source: Self

In this case the rise in supply instigates the rise in demand. The demand curve shifts to the right and so does the supply curve. Price however remains the same but the quantity of tickets sold increases. When the sports event is moved to a bigger venue the supply of seats and space increases thus the supply curve shifts from S to S ₁. The demand curve shifts from D to D ₁ denoting an increase in demand, The Price P₁ does not change but the quantity of tickets bought shift from Q to Q _{1 .}

Question Four

Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of demanded quantity to the price and is denoted by a percentage change in quantity demanded divided by percentage change in price. Demand is perfectly inelastic when the figure computed is zero (0), inelastic if between zero and negative 1, unitary elastic if equal to -1 and elastic if between -1 and –n, . Necessities have   perfectly inelastic demand since consumers cannot do without them , where the provider of a certain product is a monopoly thus no close substitute leads to even more perfect inelasticity on the price of demand since quantity demanded is not influenced by price.

Fig 4: Perfect inelastic demand

Source: U. S Supreme Court, (n.d) retrieved on 27, May, 2012 from

http://admin.wadsworth.com/resource_uploads/static_resources/0324221150/8690/0324335733_06_lr.pdf

Question Five

Table 1: Cost of operating a firm

Source:  http://www.fatih.edu.tr/~ahmetcaliskan/econ%20101/costs_productionMankiw.ppt

Cost                                                                                MC

AVC

ATC

AFC

Source: Self                                                                                                  Output.

While at low output, the average output cost will be higher due to the fact that fixed cost will be spread over few units. The firms ATC declines with increase in output since fixed costs are spread over more units.  More increase in output sees the ATC rise since the rise in AVC is faster than decline in AFC. On the other hand Marginal cost increases with increase in production due to the principle of diminishing marginal product which denotes that if all other inputs are fixed, marginal product of one input goes down as the quantity of the input goes up.
Question Six

The four major and key economic objectives of any nation is to achieve stable growth in Gross National Product (GDP),  stabilized or equal Balance of payments, control Inflation by achieving stable prices while at the same time achieving high or full employment of its citizens. This is usually done through the use of macroeconomics policies and policies such as monetary policy, fiscal policy, and international policies such as policies on imports and exports and income and price policies such price regulation of certain goods in an economy. Were this conditions to be achieved there would be an ideal economic condition since an equilibrium would have been achieved between the domestic economy and the international economy, however this only exists in theory, reason being that conflicts between domestic policies and external policies and also conflict amongst domestic policies especially between development and stabilization goals. A nation may pursue rapid economic growth unfortunately this kind of growth is mostly followed by inflation and deficits in balance of payments. While pursuing external equilibrium, there exist the consequences of less production and less use of existing production capacities which would in turn lead to unemployment. Nations must therefore learn to do “trade offs” between different policies (Delic & Kragulj, 2005)

Question Seven

Fig 6: Flow of income

Source: http://chris-terry.com/Macro/03%20The%20Circular%20Flow%20of%20Income.pdf

There are two major entities in an economy, the households and the firms. The households provide the firms with factors of production such as labor, land, capital and enterprise which the firm uses to come up with products otherwise known as output. In return the households receive factor income such as wages, rent e.t.c. The households provide a market for the products of the firm by consuming the firms’ products and services; they use some of their factor income on the firms’ products and save the rest. Should households cut on their consumption meaning they save more, firms’ experiences low sales and they respond by lower production thus making factors of production such as labor redundant, thus leading to a fall in income, employment, and national output. However, investments by firms on capital equipment increase production capacity thus offsetting the effects of savings leading to increase in output, income and employment (Boyes & Melvin, 2008)

PART B

Question 1

Keynes argued that demand is the driving factor of an economy and government policies should be put into place so as to enhance demand at the macro level and thus fight inflation and unemployment. Keynesian theories argue that it is not real wages that are set between employers but Nominal wages since real wages are affected by inflation. The theory argues that nominal wages are difficult to cut due to laws and contracts. Therefore in order to boost employment the theory advocates that real wages should go down. The theory is also used to restrain excessive saving since it leads to low investments thus leading to lower interest rates due to availability of funds for loans. The multiplier effect shows the effect on demand by government spending or injection of cash into the economic system. The government is able to influence and stimulate new production by injecting monies into the economic system which in turn influences spending by individuals. Extra expenditure means firms sell more and are thus able to employ more workers and pay their wages.

Monetary policies on the other hand emphasize monetary neutrality in the long run and non neutrality in the short run and establishing a clear distinction between real and nominal interest rates. Monetary policy involves changes in the rates of interest so as to influence growth of demand, supply of money and inflation. Supply side policies which were advocated for by Freidman induce the economy by increasing the number of services and goods, thus inducing the need for factors of production which in turn reduce market prices. This leads to more goods and services being availed for export. Monetary policy vary the interest rates charged by central banks for lending money to the other banks and may be used to reduce inflation by increasing the lending rates while at the same time it may be used during recessions to enhance demand and boost employment through a reduction in rates, thus pushing up prices and rising consumption of imported goods, (McCallum, 2008)

Question 2

 Unmanageable Sovereign Debt

One of the major cause of the current Euro crisis is the inability some of the governments in the euro zone to manage debt. The problem which has been compounded by excessive government expenditure with low growth has seen countries such as Greece and Italy experiencing an unmanageable debt which is now threatening the whole euro zone, ( Massa, Keane & Kennan, 2011).

Loose Monetary Policies before the crisis

According to John Taylor, loose monetary policies are to be blamed for the euro crises especially in the U.S between 2001and 2006. Loose interest rates and poor monetary policy led to the rise in house prices which in turn led to fewer mortgage defects. This led to over pricing of the mortgage backed securities, (Taylor 2008, 2008a).  Loose financial regulation saw a quick growth in risk and more organizations invested in financial products they did not understand, this led to deterioration in financial markets at the onset of the crises, (Borio, 2008).

Politics

Politics has also been in the midst of the crisis evidenced by lack of political strategy and vision and poor relations between members with the big countries ignoring the smaller members. Politics have also seen members prioritize markets over their people, (Kirsty Hughes, n.d)

Global imbalances

Account surpluses in developing economies such as China led to great financial flows which forced down US interest rates and those of other developed countries. This together with low savings rates in the UK and the US caused an innovation shock wave that saw complex products attempt to provide high returns and at the same time maintain asset value.

Question 3

Planned economies were found in earlier communist countries such as Russia and Northern Korea. A planned economy is characterized with the government making all the decisions. Production is dependent on government directives. The government provides employment in a planned economy and most of the citizens enjoy a comparable lifestyle. In a planned economy there is little or no capacity for development, growth or investment. Government spending is mostly on defense with little or no infrastructure development. Since wages are government controlled workers lack motivation while the control on prices leads to citizens only being able to afford basics and not luxuries. On the other hand in free enterprise (market economy) the role of the government is tied down to providing laws and policies that protect businesses and consumers so as to make sure that competition is not restricted by any party. In a free market economy, the laws of demand and supply are usually at play and businesses are driven by profits and the consumers demand for products and services determines the supply and pricing structures. Should demand fall in a free market, businesses are forced to increase efficiency come up with alternatives or make less profits. Mixed market economies cropped up due to the inequities of the free and planned market economies such as inequality, in a free market some individuals would be able to afford essential services such as healthcare and others would not be able to. Intervention also becomes essential in times economic crises since without governmental intervention many businesses would fail. The government also provides infrastructure such as roads, to aid enterprise. Wages are determined by the demand and supply forces of labour and even personal bargaining in the private sector. In a mixed economy, some resources are under the control of the government while others are under the market forces, (Vodafone, n.d)