Employees often believe they’re essential to their employers regarding policies, rules, procedures, and more. While workers can think positively about their employers, they may take advantage of their position. Employees have legal rights, and employers are necessitated by law to respect and follow those rights. However, what action can employees take when they think their rights are being exploited? At such moments, hiring an adept employment lawyer can be ideal.
What Are Employment Lawyers?
Employment lawyers represent employers and employees regarding issues that include state and federal employment laws. They ensure that every worker is managed fairly and consistently and that employers are aligned with all the various local, state, and federal laws related to the modern workplace.
In addition, employment lawyers can help with problems related to wage law, draft and review employee handbooks, and represent employees and employers in front of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). They also offer assistance with employees’ rights if they believe their rights have been violated.
Signs You Need An Employment Lawyer
Now that you know the definition of an employment lawyer, you can read on to know when you might need them.
- You Are Wrongfully Dismissed
Almost all current regulations are also designed to safeguard employees from being dismissed unjustly. Based on the circumstances, there is a possibility that you have undergone a wrongful dismissal case that you should pursue.
There are specific illegal reasons that may result in the wrongful termination of the worker. Illegal grounds for termination can involve retaliation or racial discrimination. Whatever the case, if you have been dismissed without enough reason or cause, this can be a reason for filing a legal action. If your position has been terminated or you’ve been moved to another department with a lower salary, you can take this to legal court and get what you deserve.
Overall, if you’re wrongly dismissed and living in Melbourne, Australia, you can check employment lawyer Melbourne or other lawyers in your area to help with your situation.
- You Are Not Getting Any Benefits
To a large extent, companies are reasonably good at offering benefits, whether for the existing workers or those who just left. Yet, some aren’t pretty good at this kind of practice.
If you’re not getting any severance pay, vacation pay, or haven’t been covered by health insurance, although it’s written in your contract, this calls for legal action. It means hiring an employment lawyer immediately to avoid cases where these missed payments will go on, particularly if your employer—past or present—denies fixing the issue.
Note that most workers won’t capitalize on the fact that the system is always geared toward them. However, if they notice that the company, they’re working in is unscrupulous, unkind, or unprofessional, then they’ll be more likely to do so. Overall, it’s usually ideal to find an employment lawyer from a law firm instead of expecting things to subside as time goes by.
- Your Employer Broke A Labor Code
Existing labor codes are created to protect employees from being exploited by employers. As such, businesses and companies should also hire their employment lawyer to ensure they’re following the laws and regulations.
Yet, if you think your employer disobeyed a labor law, you should also seek help from a lawyer. While it’s nearly impossible to know every detail in the extensive labor code, if you think the company that you’re under has broken a significant law, you should bring this to court for a lawsuit.
And for instances where your employer may have broken the labor law are when:
- They failed to provide minimum wage
- They illegally deduct your wage
- They have inaccurate records of your salary and hours of work
- They haven’t offered workers’ compensation insurance
- You Are Being Discriminated Against
Discrimination in the workplace is appalling. However, it can be immensely challenging to provide evidence. Yet, know that it’s illegal for your employer to discriminate against you based on your race, sexual orientation, gender, and religion.
Know that a workplace environment that allows continuous verbal abuse, inappropriate jokes, unequal working conditions, or anything that causes challenges for employees in protected classes to finish their tasks has already built a discriminatory and hostile workplace setting. Being necessitated to function in such a setting infringes workers’ rights.
And so, if you notice you’ve been or are being discriminated against, hiring an employment lawyer can be beneficial. They’ll know how to deal with the company’s policy, HR manager, and alleged discriminator. They can safeguard you from this kind of behavior and stop it in the future for you and other employees.
Conclusion
Employment lawyers are experts in dealing with problems connected to state and federal employment laws. Likewise, there are many reasons for an employee to call an employment lawyer.
Situations that call for an employment lawyer are when you’re wrongfully terminated without any reasonable cause, whenever the benefits owed to you haven’t been provided, when you’re discriminated against, and when your employer violated the labor code.
Overall, having an employment lawyer ensures that everything will be fine regarding your rights as a worker. It also prevents an employer from exploiting future employees.
