1. Master Servant Relationship PDF

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Master Servant Relationship...

Description

Master and Servant-relationship 

Master-servent is used to describe the relationship arising between an employer and an employee.

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A servant is anyone who works for another individual, the master, with or without pay. The master and servant relationshiponly arises when the tasks are performed by the se rvant under the direction and control of the masterand are subject to themaster's kno wledge and consent.

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A servant is unlike an agent, since the servant has no authority to act in his or her empl oyer's place. A servant is also distinguishable from an Independent Contractor, who is an individual entering into an agreement to perform a particular job through the exercise of his or her own methods and is not subject to the control of the individual by whom he or she washired.

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The master and servant relationship arises out of an express contract; the law, however, will sometimes imply a contractwhen none exists if a person was led to believ e there was one by the conduct of both the employer and theemployee. Nocontract exi sts, however, unless both master and servant consent to it. The contract can contain w hatever terms andconditions the parties agree to, provided they are legal. It is essential that the terms be sufficiently definiteso as to beenforceable by a court in the event tha t the contract isbreached. An employment contract is legally enforceable by the awardof damages againsteither p arty who breaks it. No employment contract, however,can be enforced by compelling t heemployee to work, since that would constitute Involuntary Servitude, which is proscribed by the U.S. Constitution.

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Federal and state laws regulate certain conditions of employment, such as minimum w ages, maximum hours, overtime pay,time of for religious observances, and the safety o f the work environment. Statutes ordinarily restrict employment of children, and federal Civil Rights laws prohibit employment discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, o r national origin.Employment agencies are generally licensed and regulated, due to the risk that dishonest agencies might come into existence.

Duties of Master and Servant 

The general rule is that a master may hire and fire servants; however, this is limited to a certain extent by the law. Anemployee cannot be discharged for a reason not permitted by his or her employment contract or the collective bargaini ngagreement that may govern the employment; nor can the person be fired because of race, color, religion, sex, or nationalorigin. In addition, an employer cannot fire an empl oyee who is exercising certain rights, such as filing a discriminationcomplaint with a gov ernmental agency or filing for worker's compensation benefits.

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An employee can be discharged for misappropriating funds, being unfaithful tohis or he r employer's interest, refusing toperform services that were agreedupon in a contract, or for being habitually late or absent. An employee cannot be fired forinsubordination f or refusing to subscribe to unlawful directive s fromhis or her employer, nor can the employee be required toperform such illegal as committing perjury or handling stolen property. A suit for damages may be brought against anemployer who wrongfully discharges an employee.

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An employee has the obligation to be honest and faithful in the performance of duties. When trade secrets are disclosed toan employee, he or she must not reveal them to ot hers either prior or subsequent to employment. In some cases, anemployment contrac t specifies that the employer owns any new ideas or inventions created by the employee during theperiod of employment. When this is t rue, the employee has no rights in the idea or invention nor any right to ask for additio nal compensation. Compensation

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An employee can enter into an agreement to work without compensation, butin the ab sence of such an agreement, anemployer must pay an employee at the agreed rate. Th e employer cannot delay payment of wages or substitute somethingother than money unless the employee assents. The employee is entitled to his or her wages as long as th e work iscompleted. If an employer wrongfully discharges an employee, the employee can collect all the money the employer hadagreed to pay him or her.

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The amount and type of compensation is ordinarily regulated by agreement; however, i t is afected by a number of statutes.Employers are required to pay at least a certain pr escribed MinimumWage under most state laws, which mustbe no lessthan the amount set by federal law, unless it is a type of employment that is excluded under the law or t he employer is smallenough in size tobe exempt from the minimum wage laws. Other s tate and federal laws mandate employers to allow for paidsick time and additional wag es for overtime or holiday work....