Employee Rights and Responsibilities

Employees have the right to attempt to form a union where none currently exists, or to decertify a union that has lost the support of employees. The H-2B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provide for the admission of nonimmigrants to the U.S. to perform temporary non-agricultural labor or services. Minimum wage in Illinois is $11.00 per hour for those individuals who are 18 years and older. The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Infosoft Solutions Inc., a New Jersey IT recruiting and contracting company operating as KForce Tech…

If the contract is accepted, the next task is to look at how to administer the agreement. The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with Maryland-based Treacy Enterprises Inc., which owns and operates several Domino’s Pizza franchises (Treacy Enterprises). The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), enforces the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1324b. For more information, visit NYC Commission on Human Rights at nyc.gov/humanrights.

For federal agencies

Many organizations create whistleblowing policies and a mechanism to report illegal or unethical practices within the organization (Ravishankar, 2011). This joint webinar hosted by USCIS and Immigrant and Employee Rights (IER) discusses employee rights and anti-discrimination provisions during the E-Verify and Form I-9 employment eligibility verification processes. This webinar, useful for workers, worker advocates, job seekers, and employers, is eligible for 1 professional development credit through SHRM and HRCI. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) eligible employees of covered employers have the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Labor rights advocates have worked to improve workplace conditions that meet established standards.

Lawyers warn, however, that this type of monitoring should only be done if the employee has consented (People Management, 2011). A monitoring company isn’t always needed to monitor employees’ movements on social networking. And sometimes employees don’t even have to tweet something negative about their own company to lose their job. A case in point is when Chadd Scott, who does Atlanta sports updates for 680/The Fan, was fired for tweeting about Delta Airlines. In his tweet, he complained about a Delta delay and said they did not have enough de-icing fluid.

Worker rights and protections

Find information about employment discrimination and complaints that TWC handles, unpaid wage claims, minimum wage, and child labor laws and complaints. Explore labor law and other rules and regulations governing discrimination in Texas. The law generally presumes that private sector employees are employed at will. The employment-at-will Employee rights doctrine means that both employer and employee can end the employment relationship at any time for any reason, unless there’s contract between the employer and employee that provides otherwise. Since only a small percentage of the American labor force works under an employment contract, the majority of workers are employees at will.

The advantage of employment at will allows for freedom of employment; the possibility of wrongful discharge tells us that we must be prepared to defend the termination of an employee, as to not be charged with a wrongful discharge case. The Wage and Hour Division mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. We are committed to ensuring that workers in this country are paid properly and for all the hours they work.

You are protected!

The right to equal treatment, regardless of gender, origin and appearance, religion, sexual orientation, is also seen by many as a worker’s right. Discrimination in the workplace is illegal in many countries, but some see the wage gap between genders and other groups as a persistent problem. Many labor movement campaigns have to do with limiting hours in the workplace.

Your pay cannot be  based on your gender according to the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act. It is important that you know your rights and responsibilities when you are hired by an E-Verify employer. E-Verify employers must follow E-Verify rules and responsibilities and protect the privacy of their employees. If you believe an employer is not following the E-Verify rules listed in the Employee Rights overview below or has discriminated against you, we encourage you to report it. ASK WITHOUT FEARWorried your employer might take action against you for using or asking about your workplace rights?

What are Employee Rights?

Employers in Washington State must provide you with one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours that you work. This policy applies to you regardless of your employee status as a full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal worker. Learn how you are protected by law and what to do if you feel your rights have been violated. Our department enforces these laws to protect all workers, regardless of immigration status. Depending on the state in which you live, employees may be given to see their personnel files and the right to see and correct any incorrect information within their files. Medical or disability information should be kept separate from the employee’s work file, per the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Worker advocacy groups have also sought to limit work hours, making a working week of 40 hours or less standard in many countries. A 35-hour workweek was established in France in 2000, although this standard has been considerably weakened since then. Workers may agree with employers to work for longer, but the extra hours are payable overtime. In the European Union the working week is limited to a maximum of 48 hours including overtime (see also Working Time Directive 2003).

Labor movement discrimination

Some of the most common employee rights include the right to a safe workplace, the right to be paid fairly, the right to join a union, and the right to take legal action if one’s rights are violated. Other employee rights may include the right to paid vacation days, the right to sick leave, and the right to parental leave. We educate employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities under Minnesota employment and safety and health laws. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503), which is the section that applies to federal contractors. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has primary responsibility for enforcing the employment provisions of the law.

• Employees have the right to be free from sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.
• If the contract is accepted, the next task is to look at how to administer the agreement.
• Genetic information includes an individual’s medical history, genetic tests, etc.
• These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law.

Throughout history, workers claiming some sort of right have attempted to pursue their interests. During the Middle Ages, the Peasants’ Revolt in England expressed demand for better wages and working conditions. One of the leaders of the revolt, John Ball, famously argued that people were born equal saying, “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?” Laborers often appealed to traditional rights.

Wages

Whistleblowers can report internally to managers or supervisors, or externally to the media or regulatory authorities. Many state and some federal laws, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, now include protections for employees who report violations. These laws prohibit employers from firing or otherwise retaliating against employees who report wrongdoing or participate in investigations.

By the 1940s, 9 million people were members of a union, which spurred the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act. This act set a new set of standards for fair practices by the unions, within a unionized environment. Individuals with disabilities are protected from employment discrimination by Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act). The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. The nondiscrimination standards of the ADA apply to federal employees under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act. First, the HR professional must know the contract well to administer it well.

In addition, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that health information should be private, and therefore it is good practice to keep health information in a separate file as well. The foregoing allocations of burdens of proof shall apply at all stages of the proceedings, including motions for summary judgment. If the plaintiff satisfies this burden, the burden shall then be on the defendant to produce evidence that one (1) or more legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons existed for the plaintiff’s discharge. You are entitled to take time off work for certain situations with the security that you can return to your same job. Protected leave includes domestic violence, caring for your sick child, pregnancy, bonding with your baby, your spouse is called to active duty, and serving as an emergency service worker. It is your right to work in safe conditions that are not harmful to your health.