Employees have the right to a safe work environment. This means that they can’t be treated as insignificant and treated poorly by their employers and managers.
There are some actions that employers may do that would create a dangerous workplace or take advantage of employees. Some of these actions may be caused by misguided advice. Here’s how you can avoid that:
Forcing off-the-clock work
Employees have the right to overtime pay. Employers can’t ask employees to work extra time without being paid one and one-half their typical wage. Limiting overtime pay may lead to a wage theft claim from the victimized employee.
Retaliating against whistleblowing
Employees that blow the whistle on unsafe or illegal workplace practices have protective rights. Employers can’t fire, demote or reduce the pay of an employee protected by whistleblowing rights.
Forbidding employees from talking about salary
Employees are free to discuss their pay with coworkers at their place of employment. Wages are a crucial aspect of work. This means employers can’t set policies or retaliate against people who’ve discussed their salary outside of work, during breaks or on the job.
Discrimination
One of the biggest workplace issues is discrimination. Discrimination is the unjust treatment of others, especially minorities. For example, age discrimination could occur if an employer hired a younger worker to replace someone 40 years of age or older. Likewise, employers can’t prevent someone from practicing their religion or forcing religion on others.
You may need to learn about your rights if these kinds of actions lead to a legal dispute.
