All the spheres of employer/employee relationship, except the negotiation processes involving labor law and collective bargaining, are regulated by a specific group of laws –
employment laws. This group of laws consists of thousands of Federal and state statutes, and administrative acts. The main purpose of employment laws is to protect labor legislation and provide the equality of the bargaining power between employers and employees. They also may be considered as the form of public insurance, for example, such as unemployment compensation.
The area of labor law is ruled by federal law, state law and judicial decisions. States are prevented from interfering with federal law or with the guiding principles transmitted by agencies established under federal law or by the United States Constitution.
The main law protecting the rights of people employed on ships and vessels is the Maritime Law. Another name for the Maritime Law is the Admiralty Law; it governs all the United States. According to this law the state is responsible for its vessels, no matter which ocean they are sailing in. Admiralty Law Attorneys conduct cases of all matters dealing with cargo disputes, oil pollution of waters, international trade, fishing matters, shipment and damages that take place on docks and vessels, passenger liabilities. The acts regulating the protection of workers’ rights are the “Jones Act” and the “Longshore and Harbor Employees' Compensation Act”.
The “Jones Act” requires the fact of negligence to be the reason of your injury. According to the act, each worker injured has the right to cry for a fair compensation in order to cover the costs on medical treatment. The period the worker is on a sick leave is also to be paid by the employer. But to gain this compensation an employee should file a lawsuit against his manager and finally win the case. You will need a support of a professional lawyer with a specific
Attorney Qualification. One hardly can win the case against the company director without help of a proficient
Attorney+. Rights of crewmen working on such vessels as drill ships, tug boats, floating cranes, cruise ships, fishing vessels, construction barges, cargo ships, tankers, diving vessels, recreational boats, drilling rigs are secured by the “Jones Act”.
You should know that a lot of factors may influence the result of a trial, for example, the distance between the land and the sea at the moment of being injured also matters. That’s why do not avoid consulting with your attorney and taking
Attorney Services in order to provide a required compensation for injuries caused, job loss, and medical treatment bills.
The “Longshore and Harbor Employees' Compensation Act” treats the rights of workers who are not sailing. They are people working at docks (longshoremen or harbor workers), contract employees and some other categories of workers.
To get an attorney you may simply call to his office and ask for meeting. Usually the costs on the attorney’s services play essential part. The salary of an experienced attorney (usually working in a big city) is commonly higher than the salary of an attorney who has just finished school of law and still has no experience of work as an attorney. You may hire a private attorney or come to an association of barristers, where you will be offered a wide choice of professionals.
Don’t be passive and fight for your own hand!
