Today, it is undeniable that the operation of all business organizations as well as the public school system and/or any other institutions is carried out within the confines of federal, state, and case law (i.e., at the courts). As a result, the daily functioning of public schools (e.g., in terms of academic, nonacademic, and administrative practices) as well as other private and public institutions is under the domination and control of the officials of a multiplicity of highly complex federal, state, and local agencies (Martyn et al. 2017; Cahn and Donald 2010; Wright and Wright 2007; Bartlett et al. 2006). The custodians of these agencies work through ordinances, rules, and regulations. These proclamations are birthed through the relentless voices and efforts of those who lead and manage the countless number of federal, state, and local government representatives (See Webb and Norton 2012). Through the promulgation of regulatory measures, almost every aspect of employment in the whole nation is strictly under human resources laws (HR laws ) as revealed in regulations, policies, and administrative practices.
As is always the case, the interpretation of legislative and judicial proclamations is subject to the judicial arm of government. And because HR laws are pervasive in every sphere of public life and operation, every public and private administrator is expected to be either familiar with the laws that inform the HR function and administration or be able to seek the appropriate legal help when they need to do so. That is, they are expected to not only seek legal counsel when the need arises, but also comprehend fully their rights, obligations, and responsibilities as they provide oversight to public school administration (Cascio 1998).
In general, therefore, the basic intent, concepts, and thrust of the HR laws , in terms of public school administration, concentrate on issues of social, economic, political, educational, religious, legal, family, scientific, and technological interests. Some of the key areas among these interests include the various aspects of employment as are evident in recruitment, selection, hiring, collective bargaining, due processes, terms and conditions of employment, sexual harassment, induction, tenure, promotions, discrimination, and other hiring practices and decisions. Based on state and federal constitutional and statutory protective measures, public school employees are to be protected from the whims and caprices of those who may consciously intend to unconsciously harm them in one way or the other. As Webb and Norton (2012) observe, state statutory and regulatory provisions for the purposes of employment speak to such activities as certification, citizenship, and residency requirements, health and physical requirements, competency testing, the employment contract, tenure, due process, discrimination, and adverse employment decisions.
These practices have successfully positioned the HR function and administration in the Weberian paradigm of institutional development . In light of this conclusion it is, therefore, not surprising after all that HR administrative practices are mostly about the relentless pursuit of regulations, plans, policies, projects, and programs and their enforcement—in every regard. The general belief is that the development, implementation, and enforcement of HR laws will improve the work environment and its climate. It is the hope of those involved in the design and implementation of the HR function that these action steps will also ensure fair, just, equitable, and respectful treatment of everybody at the workplace. Though one would be tempted to think and believe that employers will always hire the best qualified people, this is usually not the case due to the presence of severe human factor decay . Thus, HR laws primarily exist to both prescribe the best HR practices and also prohibit premeditated acts of blatant discrimination against others on the basis of certain personality characteristics as well as social constructs (e.g., race, color, creed, etc.), mere witch-hunting and bigotry. Let us now turn to further discussions on specific HR regulatory measures, 4Ps portfolios , and action steps and the corresponding case laws they have spawned throughout the foregoing decades.
In the fields of management, HR laws , personnel development and management programs, leadership and managerial effectiveness , organizational efficiency , operations management, employee productivity, professional competence, technological innovation, development, uses lifestyle choices, and the governance of the workplace, personal as well as group integrity is paramount. For these reasons, for centuries, as human beings in our various communities, regions, and countries we have never ever relented in our passionate quests for the best practices and solution sets we can deploy and work as effectively as we so desire. For this reason, just like the game fondly referred to as the wheel of Fortune, we never ever relent in our search for the pieces of the puzzles of the greatly disheartening experiences of the rather high failure rates we daily experience in our perennial attempts to successfully solve the problems and challenges that have dogged us for centuries in the various marketplaces (i.e., economic, business, sports, entertainment, social interactions, governance in its diverse forms, other recreational activities, work, and others). We are not only tenacious in our minds, but also resolute in the desire and commitment to discover perennial solutions to that which militates against our long term efficiency, pleasure, and the good life. Yet, most often, whenever we arrive at certain points in time—when we believe and become so sure that our newly discovered solution sets will, without any doubts, lead us to the right and workable answers, it does not take too long a time for us to realize that our highly acclaimed and revered solution set does not deliver the expected eternally effective solutions we have been yearning for centuries. As a result, we most frequently transition from one disappointed generation to another—grossly disillusioned. Like losers in the game of the wheel of Fortune, we feel rather empty within—though carrying and portraying artificial faces that are fully populated with fake smiles that expose us—revealing our own phoniness to all others. Sadly, though, almost everyone except ourselves are aware of having been exposed. For the longest time, we remain clueless to the truth that we have been busted! From this point onward, we are filled and consumed with disappointment—remaining helplessly hopeless—from one badly traumatized, disoriented, and bitter generation to others from one generation to others, one at a time … ad infinitum.
Yet, as has been our perennial practice and experience, in every country today, all over the world, people have created variously great technologies, complex government departments, ideologies, institutions, structures, management practices, leadership styles, organizational setups, HR laws , personnel development programs, agency structures, tools, and procedures for arbitration, that are employed to accomplish intended management objectives. These include greater productivity increases, long-term profitability, global competitiveness , and company longevity. We set up modern business and economic organizations with similarly complex varieties of sizes, purposes, methods, and practices. In a simplified manner, we are able to classify people who work in and for diverse businesses and economic entities either as owners, employees, workers, managers, or leaders. These individuals are expeditiously lumped together and fondly referred to as the human resources of the organization. As the key proponents of the traditional business philosophy and practices prefer to have it, employees are to be organized in teams and managed for performance efficiency in the short term as well as the long term and the very long term. The realities of the very long term are kept in perspective—regardless of any doubts and fears we harbor in our hearts and minds. In the disciplines of public administration and management, the acts and practices of improving and sustaining worker efficiency are expected to translate into ongoing productivity growth, increased global competitiveness , profitability, and organizational longevity. To accomplish these objectives as well as many others at any time, a variety of methods are appealed to and applied toward the enhancement of the HR function. Various academic studies show that the work environment exerts tremendous long-term impact on the degree of successes and failures that employees, managers, and all other leaders—together—experience (Daft 2015; Kruse 2015; Tulgan 2014; Liraz 2013; Clampitt 2012).
The Intent of HR Regulations and Policies
Today, in terms of administration, HR laws concentrate on issues relating to all kinds of family, government, economic, legal, educational, and religious interests. Above all these, the most primary and key areas within these interests involve recruitment, selection, hiring, collective bargaining, the pursuits and practices of due processes, conditions of and regulations for employment, sexual harassment, induction, tenure, promotions, discrimination, and many more.
These interests and other related areas of great infatuation have repositioned the functioning and administration of HR laws in the Weberian paradigm of institutional development . As a result of these realities, therefore, HR laws with their diverse administrative practices are largely concerned with and consumed by the avid and determined enforcement of their regulatory policies . Proponents of the development, implementation, and enforcement of HR laws believe and argue that the foregoing action steps ultimately lead to great improvements in the work environment in the long term. Above all, they ensure equitable distribution of resources, positions, and the humane treatment of all employees. HR laws , therefore, exist to both prescribe the best HR practices and also to prohibit the various kinds of the modes and methods of discrimination at the workplace . Some key examples of HR laws deal with issues relating to a barrage of discrimination based on race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, and other ideological perspectives....