It’s hard to exercise your rights when you don’t know what they are. And while some work environments are blatantly toxic, even well-intentioned bosses and managers may end up violating your rights as a worker without realizing it. With that in mind, here are some of the most common employee rights violations out there. This will be a simplified list, so if you believe you’ve been subject to any of these, make sure you talk to an employment lawyer Los Angeles before doing anything drastic.
1. Discrimination
As a worker in the United States, the federal government protects you against discrimination caused by your race, color, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and more. These are protected categories, and it is illegal for employers to treat you unfairly due to these factors.
“Unfair treatment” includes harassment, being refused a job offer, being passed over for training and promotions, and more. In other words, it is illegal for an employer to make your life harder due to you being included in the protected categories mentioned ago. On top of federal protection, state laws also include rules against employee discrimination, which are also worth a look if you believe your rights are being violated.
2. Safety violations
Employers are required to provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. You have a right to access proper safety equipment and freedom from toxins and other hazards while at work. And employers, in general, are also obliged to provide reasonable accommodations based on your medical conditions or religious beliefs.
Of course, this means that an unsafe work environment is an employee right violation even if no one has been injured yet.
3. Equal pay violations
The Equal Pay act determines that men and women in the same workplace must be given equal pay for equal work. For this to apply, both workers don’t have to have identical jobs or even identical titles. All that matters is that both jobs be “substantially equal”, as the legislation puts it. In other words — if you’re doing the same thing as someone of the opposite sex, your employer doesn’t get to pay them more. Job content, and not title, is what matters.
4. Unreasonable hours
Some laws regulate how many hours employees can work every week, how much overtime they can do, and even how many breaks they must be allowed during a given shift. Bosses and managers who try to pressure you into working more than required, or who try to talk their way into getting unpaid overtime work from you are both potentially violating these laws. And of course, it’s also a right violation if you are fired for not accommodating requests to work unreasonable hours.
5. Whistleblower retaliation
It’s a sign of deep corruption when employers who speak the truth about mistakes and abuse end up punished by upper management. And said punishment is not only morally wrong, but it’s also illegal. The Whistleblower Protection Act grants legal protection to employees who speak out against corporate wrongdoing, which means you can’t be disciplined, demoted, or fired for reporting wrongdoings to the appropriate agencies.