5 Things Your Boss Doesn’t Want You To Know
1. You have the right to complain or protest about working conditions.
Every worker has the right to discuss working conditions with his or her co-workers. You also have the right to protest against your working conditions. As an employee, you are legally protected if you want to strike or take other actions to protest to try and improve working conditions; your employer is not allowed to fire you in retaliation because of it. If you have a policy limiting your freedom of speech, such as a contract saying you can’t discuss wages and benefits with coworkers, you are able to file a charge against your employer.
2. However, you don’t have the right to free speech at work
If you are making scenes or are making false accusations or complaints regarding the workplace environment, you aren’t protected from consequences. You may be fired for your speech or actions within the workplace, or even outside of the workplace.
3. You may not be an independent contractor
Employers might try to classify employees as a contractor in order to avoid paying his or her share of employment taxes. However, if your company controls the time, place and aspects of your work, or pays for vacations, chances are you are an employee.
4. Your employee handbook may have illegal provisions
It isn’t uncommon for employee handbooks to contain policies that the National Labor Relations Act considers illegal. Every employee should review his or her employee handbook and become familiar with it. Your handbook should contain very important information and you should be familiar with your rights in order to make sure everything is in align with one another.
5. You may be entitled to overtime pay
Many employers try to avoid paying their employees overtime. For example, they may require some work “off the clock” or pretend not to notice that you didn’t take a break. Unless you are exempt, you are entitled to be paid for the time you work, and if you are working overtime you are entitled to be paid time and a half for the hours worked over 40 hours per week.
If you, or someone you know, are facing legal issues in the workplace United Employees Law Group has answers, Call Today for your free and confidential case review. Please feel free to CONTACT US with any questions about this blog or your exact situation.
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