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Summarizing Employees’ Rights under the Labor Law

With the growing accounts of employer misconduct and negligence in California, it is best for the labor sector to be adept of the rights and privileges provided for them by the existing federal and state labor laws. This will probably be a great help for anyone who may become a victim of these illicit companies or employers. Proper understanding can be the key in decreasing employer abuse and balancing employer-employee relation.

Listed below are the levels of employment and the corresponding employees’ rights.

Pre-employment Procedures

Employers are given a free will to hire only qualified individuals to work for them. Yet, they are not authorized to implement certain qualifications that are not related to the job and designed to single out their applicants. Among the most important right of a job applicant is not to be discriminated based on the following aspects:

• Gender or sexual preferences


• Racial affiliations


• Age


• Creed or religion


• Nationality


• Pregnancy


• Disability

In addition, the interview officers must avoid asking questions that relate to the aforementioned aspects. Yet, they are allowed to ask personal questions that are important in order to determine the capability of an applicant in performing the job post.

Employment Proper

Once an applicant has been accepted for the job, the employers have an option of giving their new employee a copy of their employee handbook, which contains various information regarding their company’s policies and regulations. In this manual, the new employee may be informed of the following:

• At Will Employment” policy of the company


• Directives about various kinds of workplace harassments


• Rules in utilizing company equipment and properties


• Provisions regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act


• Wages and benefits including policies on promotion and task management

In California, “at will employment” may apply. This means that the employees may quit their jobs any time they want. As well, a worker may be dismissed on their jobs without any clear reasons. However, such termination may be considered illegal if is based on any discriminative acts.

The complexities regarding the “at will employment” issue can be difficult to understand. With this, the terminated employees may consult qualified labor law attorneys for proper advice and legal actions.

On the other hand, the employees have the right to be provided with a safe place to perform their jobs. Generally, any employee who recognizes any hazards in the workplace may secretly file a complaint without the fear of being castigated by his employer.

As bestowed upon by the Worker’s Compensation law, a worker who has been injured while performing his tasks should be compensated accordingly by his employer without resulting to legal proceedings. Such amount will depend on the extent of his injury. In case of death, the worker’s dependents may qualify to receive the benefits.

Another important Labor Law provision that protects the welfare of the workers is the Anti-Retaliation statute. This guarantees an employee, who opted to disclose his employer’s illegal dealings, against retribution in form of harassments and termination.

Post-Employment

Whether voluntary or involuntary, lawfully or illegally terminated from the job, an employee may still avail of some rights and privileges. One of which is his option to continue his health insurance benefits as stated under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or COBRA.

Note: For complete and better understanding of these employment issues, it would be best to obtain a Labor Law attorney’s advice. A competent legal counsel with expertise in handling labor disputes and other related cases will guarantee the workers’ legal protection.

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