When to Call an Employment Lawyer
It’s never an easy conversation to have with a superior when you feel as an employee you’ve somehow been wronged. Whether you’re not being allowed to take your allotted breaks, your sick days are counted against you or your vacation days are nonexistent, labor laws and employee rights are put in place to protect employees from being taken advantage of.
Because Employment Lawyers assist and advise both employees and employers on federal and state employment laws that can or have been violated, their main function is to make sure that all employees are treated in a fair and consistent manner while employers are in compliance with all laws within the workplace.
What are some of the ways your rights can be violated at work?
Wrongful Termination:
If you feel your employer has wrongfully terminated you, that can be a reason to contact an employment lawyer. When an employer fires an employee for illegal or unauthorized reasons, like being pregnant for example, these terminations can violate federal, state, and local laws and even breach the terms of an employment contract. If your employer fires you after you have refused to obey work instructions that are illegal, you can contact an employment lawyer. There are multiple reasons to call an employment lawyer if you feel you’ve been terminated wrongfully.
Discrimination:
As much as we like to hope that workplace discrimination doesn’t occur, anyone can suffer from workplace discrimination. There are many laws in place to prevent an employee, or a potential employee, from being treated less favorably than other employees, solely based on certain characteristics. Characteristics or backgrounds that are protected by law can include age, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or more.
Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment in the workplace is one of the most uncomfortable things to occur to an employee and much like discrimination and other violations, it’s not legal. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, defines sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination that involves unwelcome sexual advances, sexual favor requests and various types of verbal or physical actions, including offensive comments and remarks. If this type of harassment occurs in your workplace, it’s a form of employment discimination. While there are generally two typse of sexual harassment, quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment, both are not to be tolerated and an employee who feels they have been harassed should contact an employment lawyer immediately.
Contract Violations:
Oftentimes, when an employer hires an employee, there are contract agreements put into place to protect both parties. When these contracts are violated, an employment lawyer can help. Things like vacation days, sick days, benefits and grounds for termination can be included in these contracts. If your employer violates any of the terms listed on your contract agreement, an employment lawyer can be hired to review contracts and of course, represent you if they’ve been violated.
If you feel your rights as an employee have been violated by any of the above, you should contact an employment lawyer to discuss the next steps and what your options are.
