page_title: Human rights in the United States
section_title: Labor rights
hierarchical_section_title: Human rights in the United States / Labor rights
caption_attribution_description: Español: Cesar Chavez en Colegio Cesar Chavez
context_page_description: Human rights in the United States comprise a series of rights which are legally protected by the Constitution of the United States, state constitutions, treaty and customary international law, legislation enacted by Congress and state legislatures, and state referenda and citizen's initiatives. The Federal Government has, through a ratified constitution, guaranteed unalienable rights to its citizens and non-citizens. These rights have evolved over time through constitutional amendments, legislation, and judicial precedent. Along with the rights themselves, the portion of the population granted these rights has expanded over time. Within the United States, federal courts have jurisdiction over international human rights laws.
  The United States is generally given high to fair marks on human rights. The Freedom in the World index, for example, lists the United States in the highest category for human freedom in civil and political rights, with 86 out of 100 points, and The CIRI Human Rights Data Project places the US 38th overall in human rights.
context_section_description: Labor rights in the United States have been linked to basic constitutional rights. Comporting with the notion of creating an economy based upon highly skilled and high wage labor employed in a capital-intensive dynamic growth economy, the United States enacted laws mandating the right to a safe workplace, workers compensation, Unemployment insurance, fair labor standards, collective bargaining rights, Social Security, prohibiting child labor and guaranteeing a minimum wage.
  During the 19th and 20th centuries, safer conditions and workers' rights were gradually mandated by law, but this trend has reversed to some extent towards pro-business policies since the 1980s.
  In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act recognized and protected "the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands." However, many states hold to the principle of at-will employment, which says an employee can be fired for any or no reason, without warning and without recourse, unless violation of State or Federal civil rights laws can be proven. In 2011, 11.8% of U.S. workers were members of labor unions with 37% of public sector (government) workers in unions while only 6.9% of private sector workers were union members.
  As of 2006, U.S. workers worked longer hours on average than any other industrialized country, having surpassed Japan. Info published in 2007 showed U.S. workers rank high in terms of production.
  As of 2008, the United States' maternity leave policy is distinct from other industrialized countries for its relative scarcity of benefits. The length of protected maternity leave ranks 20th out of the 21 high-income countries. Moreover, most foreign wealthy nations provide some form of wage compensation for the leave of absence; the United States is the only one of these 21 countries that does not offer such paid leave.
  In 2014, the United States received a poor grade of "4" on the ITUC's Global Rights Index, which ranks the worst places in the world for workers' rights, with "1" being the best and "5" the worst. Other nations and regions that scored a "4" include Argentina, Bahrain, El Salvador, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iraq, Iran, Mexico and Yemen.
  In 2014, the United States was considered a "medium risk" country for child labor according to Maplecroft's 2014 Child Labor Index.
  In 2015, the United States and Papua New Guinea were reported to be the only countries in the world that did not guarantee paid maternal leave by law.
caption: By the late 1970s, Cesar Chavez tactics had forced growers to recognize the UFW as the bargaining agent for 50,000 field workers in California and Florida.
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