When an employer is making hiring decisions, an employer generally should not take age into account. However, the only legal protections that exist are designed to prevent discrimination against older workers. There is no law that prohibits an employer from refusing to hire people on the basis of the fact that the employer believes that the person is too young. There is a law prohibiting an employer from refusing to hire someone on the basis that he is too old.
Read MoreEmployees are supposed to be paid for their time doing work activities. If employers don't pay, workers can take action. A group of employees from Tyson did just that: they filed a class action lawsuit because their employer was not paying for their time putting safety gear on and taking it off. Safety News Alert reported on the lawsuit, which ended up getting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read MoreSometimes, it can be difficult to determine if you were fired due to discrimination or not. Some of the red flags that you should look for include a failure of the employer to follow written or implied promises made to you, disciplinary action or a termination despite no wrongdoing on your part, discriminatory statements, other terminations of people of protected classes, a pattern of discrimination, a termination following a specific interaction with your employer,
Read MoreWhen you hire employees, you take on a host of legal obligations. You need to make sure you comply with all of the requirements imposed on employers so you do not face legal consequences. You also need to make sure your employees do not jeopardize your business interests.
Read MoreThe Small Business Administration explains that: “An employee handbook is an important communication tool between you and your employees. A well-written handbook sets forth your expectations for your employees, and describes what they can expect from your company. It also should describe your legal obligations as an employer, and your employees' rights”
Read MoreDisparate impact discrimination usually starts when there is a job requirement established by an employer. The job requirement may appear to be neutral on its face. However, it ends up disqualifying more people of a protected class, such as more people of a given race or a given religion. For example, in an area where fewer minorities have a college education, a job requirement mandating a college degree could be considered disparate impact discrimination.
Read MoreWhile non-competes are common, they are also difficult to enforce in many circumstances. Non-compete agreements can sometimes be overly restrictive and can impede a person's ability to make a living. This type of agreement is not going to be enforced because it is considered bad public policy and an unlawful restraint on trade to make it effectively impossible for someone to earn a living in his or her chosen profession.
Read MoreAge discrimination is unlawful under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Employers are not permitted to discriminate against older employees in any of the terms or conditions of employment. This means employers cannot refuse to hire you, refuse to promote you, or force you to retire or take a demotion as a result of your age. Employers also cannot provide different benefits or job perks to workers based on their age.
Read MoreQuid pro quo harassment occurs in situations where any of the terms and conditions of your job are conditioned upon agreeing to sexual favors or sexual behaviors. In some cases, it is easy to provide quid pro quo harassment occurred if an overt offer of job benefits or job advancement is made. In other circumstances, bosses or managers may be more subtle in their suggestions that sexual behavior can help you to advance.
Read MoreWhen an employee leaves your company, you may consider offering severance pay in exchange for an employee signing a severance contract or exit agreement. The severance pay could be a benefit that the employee is provided in order to create a legally valid and binding contract wherein the employee agrees to certain important contractual terms.
Read MoreThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as a “ form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Behaviors of an alleged harasser must meet certain criteria in order to be considered unlawful harassment. If a co-worker or supervisor simply asks you on a date, for example, this may not be considered harassing behavior that is actionable. Sometimes harassment is clearly occurring, but in other situations it is a more difficult judgement call to determine whether harassment happened or not.
Read MoreIt can be difficult to determine why you were not hired, as there may be many reasons why someone would be passed over for a job. However, if discrimination of any type played a role in you not being hired for a position you were qualified for, it becomes very important to understand whether the potential employer violated anti-discrimination laws.
Read MoreIn May, the Department of Labor instituted new overtime rules by making a change to the definition of “exempt.” Exempt workers are employees who generally are not entitled to receive overtime time. If a worker is classified as an exempt employee, he does not get paid any extra money for hours over 40 per hour. If a worker is not exempt, on the other hand, he generally can get paid time-and-a-half for the extra hours that he works over normal business hours.
Read MoreThe creation of an unreasonably unpleasant working environment on the basis of any unwanted sexual behaviors, including by co-workers and peers, could potentially be unlawful and the company could be held responsible if there were no policies in place to prevent the behavior and if no system was set up to make certain that this type of behavior could be reported.
Read MoreIn general, employers have wide leeway to act in accordance with their own beliefs and theories and to hire and fire anyone for any reason or no reason at all. However, certain groups of people are protected from being fired because of who they are, because these groups of people have historically been discriminated against and treated unfairly by employers.
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