Understanding your rights as an employee can be complicated. Even in the best workplaces, employers may be ignoring laws that are in place to protect workers from harassment or discrimination. Employers may be ignoring important safety regulations, or laws that provide you with time off to take care of a sick family member.
Whether you have been fired or laid off, you may have a right to claim severance and unemployment benefits. You may have been a victim of harassment on your job, and be entitled to compensation. You may have been discriminated against by your employer. Or, your employer may have denied or be contesting a workers' compensation claim from an injury you received on the job.
Did your employer have legal reasons for firing you? Do you believe that you are the victim of discrimination, retaliation or “wrongful termination?” In other words, you believe that your firing was unjustified.
You may still have your job, but you have been sexually harassed. Or, you believe you were passed over for a promotion or a better position because of discrimination.
If any of these things describe your situation, you may need the help and services of a good employment attorney.
An employment attorney is the one who can help you in matters relating to employment, the workplace and employment law. Employmentattorneyhome.com is the place where you will find a qualified employment attorney. Employmentattorneyhome.com is the Web site where you will find a proven employment attorney who can help you with harassment, discrimination, workers' compensation claims or other problems and difficulties that you are having in your workplace or with your employer.
Employment law is a broad area of law. It deals with how employers treat employees, former employees and applicants in all areas of the relationship except negotiation and the collective bargaining process, which are covered under labor law. Employment law encompasses a wide variety of issues.
There was practically no protection for employees less than a century ago. Employers treated their employees just about any way they wanted to with little or no redress for the employee. Many employers paid their employees as little as possible and worked them for as many hours as they could get out of them. Working conditions were often deplorable, unclean and filthy. Many times the workplace was hazardous, placing the employees in the likelihood of injury, illness or death. In addition, there were no benefits offered to workers like workers' compensation or health insurance in the event of an accident on the job. Even children had to work under this employment abuse.
Many people left their rural, agricultural life to live in the city and work in a factory as the Industrial Revolution swept across the United States, Europe, and the rest of what is referred to as the industrialized world. It was obvious that the government would have to intervene to establish and protect the rights of workers as the number of employees increased and working conditions grew worse and worse. These initial efforts eventually gave way to modern employment law.
The purpose of employment law is to protect you as an employee from any mistreatment by your employer. Some of the first items addressed by early employment laws were establishing fair wages, preventing children from being exploited and limiting the number of hours worked in a week. Employers were also required to protect their employees and prevent dangerous accidents, as well as providing a clean workplace. These basic benefits are still an important part of current employment law.
Although there are several laws that have been passed dealing with various aspects of employment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is probably the most significant piece of legislation that has been enacted in the United States regarding employment law, to protect human rights and to fight discrimination in the workplace. Title VII of this act prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established in 1965 to enforce the laws against discrimination in the workplace and also oversee and coordinate all Federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices and policies.
Employment law has also established standards that are mandatory for employers regarding benefits provided to you as an employee. Benefits like health insurance, workers' compensation and unemployment compensation are all due to provisions established by employment law.