As an employee, you have rights that need to be upheld by your employer. It is a sad reality that not all employers respect or honor these rights. When that happens, an employee can take action and stand up for him or herself. Our Hollister employment law attorney shares common ways in which employers take advantage and undermine their employees’ rights.
Five ways in which an employer may undermine your employee rights:
- Termination without reason – If your employer terminated you without a reason (or a reason that is not within understanding i.e. claiming that you are always late when you are always on-time), this should be a red flag. It is possible that your employer terminated you for an unlawful reason and did not tell you.
- Not following through with investigations – If you complained about something, keep an eye on how your employer handles it. It should be a warning sign to an employee if he or she takes a long time to start the investigation or makes excuses not to start it. It is important for employers to make their employees feel heard and take complaints (especially about safety or harassment) seriously.
- Not taking an EEOC charge seriously – If your employer receives and EEOC charge, he or she should take the matter seriously. They should be concerned with finding real answers through an investigation. Make sure to note if your employer seems adamant about uncovering the truth and finding solutions or if he or she is trying to cover up any wrongdoings.
- Not following their policies – A company or business can have the best employee and safety policies in the world, but that won’t do any good if the employer doesn’t uphold them. What might look good on paper depends entirely on the action and reaction of employers. If your employer regularly disregards company or safety policies, he or she might not uphold employee rights as well.
- Termination with weird timing – When you are terminated from your job could be a huge indicator to whether or not your employer upheld your rights. If you were terminated shortly after blowing the whistle, announcing a pregnancy, an injury, or taking medical leave, your employer could be violating your rights as an employee.
For more information on employee rights and employment law, contact Polaris Law Group today.
