Working Conditions During The Industrial Revolution

877 Words4 Pages
Working Conditions during the Industrial Revolution versus Present Time Although the Industrial Revolution is widely referred as a time of economic success, the working conditions were very harsh and only benefited the rich. Unlike the working conditions of present time child labor was very prevalent in the period of the Industrial Revolution, in addition to this there were low wages and almost no work safety as for present time, many laws and policies have been placed in order to protect exactly these rights that were overlooked during the Industrial Revolution. Mass production played a big role in the Industrial Revolution and its working conditions. The Industrial Revolution was a time of progress in terms of new machines and technology…show more content…
Several employers require that an employee be at least sixteen years of age in order to be a qualifying applicant while others prefer that their employees be at least eighteen years old, depending on the workload. If a job can be described as strenuous then very often the employee is given more resting breaks. Not only this, but employees are usually paid overtime if they have exceeded their allotted hours. Additionally, a minimum wage has been set to avoid employers taking advantage of their worker's paycheck. The federal minimum wage is currently seven dollars with twenty-five cents an hour, although some states may have a higher minimum wage, but never less than the federal minimum wage. Besides having a federal minimum wage set laws and policies have also played a big part in creating a safer working environment. As a result, more employees are trained before they actually start working or more employers require that the applicants have some type of experience in that field or a degree altogether. Training is not the only thing that has created a safer environment, but safety plans, fire escape plans and evacuation plans have been incorporated in the workplace. If an employee is ever injured at work, they are compensated and given some time off from work. In addition to this, employees now can qualify for benefits from their employers such as healthcare, retirement plans or paid vacations. However, unlike during the Industrial Revolution not all employees are allowed to form or join unions. For example, in some states, educators are not allowed to join or form unions due to the fear of not having any teachers show up to teach one
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