The National Labor Relations Act, Fair Labor Standard (FLS) Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act have all been put in place to protect employees’ rights. Which is why an employee should never feel as if they are being treated unfairly and should always speak up and seek help.
Sometimes employers may unintentionally do things that violate the rights of their workers without them even knowing about it. In other cases, they might not even care. To avoid situations like this it is important to be prepared and to know your rights. So, here are the top 6 things your employer may not tell you:
1) You must get paid more than your regular hourly wage when you work overtime.
According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must receive overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a work week at a rate of one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees may work in any workweek as long as they are 16 years of age or older. However, if you work on the weekends, holidays, or on your days off you would not get paid overtime unless you usually work on those days.
2) Minimum Wage
FLSA states that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 which has been effective since July 24, 2009. However, employees can get a higher minimum wage if they are subject to both state and federal minimum wage laws. For instance, if you live in California the state minimum wage is $15 an hour but the federal minimum wage in California is $12.
3) You can and should negotiate your pay, hours, etc.
Employers may sometimes not mention that a wage or work schedule is negotiable to avoid having to agree to a higher rate. But legally you can discuss the type of contract you are agreeing to with your employer, the benefits, hours, schedule, and other working conditions.
4) Employers can’t spy on you
Any employer seeking to monitor you has to have a clear written policy, which has to be signed and agreed to by you. Such a policy would let you know that you should not expect to have any type of privacy and that if your boss were to use it then it is to be used for work purposes only such as performance. If you think that your boss is intruding on your privacy for unrelated work purposes, you can report it to your human resources department, or you can go to an employment lawyer.
5) You Have the Right to Strike
Employees who strike to protest an unfair labor practice committed by their employer are called unfair labor practice strikers. If an employee strikes an unfair labor practice committed by the employer, the employee cannot be discharged nor permanently replaced. When the strike ends, the employee is entitled to their job even if new employees were hired and will have to be discharged or moved since legally misconduct was not caused due to the strike.
If unfair labor practice strikers who have made an unconditional request for reinstatement have been unlawfully denied reinstatement by their employer, this is unlawful and can be reported to the U.S. Department of Labor. You can get lawyers involved and collect pay starting since the time you should have been reinstated.
6) Employers Can’t Retaliate You for the OSH Act
Under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, employers can’t retaliate against employees for exercising their rights. These rights include filing an OSHA complaint, participating in an inspection or talking to an inspector, seeking access to employer exposure and injury records, reporting an injury, and raising a safety or health complaint with the employer. Basically, your rights are always safe and a priority.
If you believe you have been a victim of unfair treatment in the workplace it is your right to report it and seek the proper help. Campano Law Group specializes in employer law and can help. Learn more at campanolaw.com or give them a call at 1-855-CAMPANO.