Workplace Discrimination
Employment and labor laws prohibit discriminatory or unfair treatment of an applicant or employee based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, or parental status. Federal law forbids “discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.”
Employment policies or practices applicable to all employees may be illegal if they have “a negative impact on the employment of people of a particular class and is not job-related and necessary to the operation of the business.”
Do you believe that you may have been discriminated against in the workplace? If so, you may be entitled to compensation under federal and state laws.
Employer Retaliation
To protect employees who want to file a lawsuit or complaint against their employer, state and federal labor laws prohibit employers from engaging in retaliatory behavior. If an employee files a lawsuit or complaint for racial discrimination in the workplace, employers are prohibited, by law, from terminating, demoting, harassing, refusing promotions, altering benefits, forcing an unpaid leave of absence, or changing job assignments in retaliation.
Employees who have filed a lawsuit or complaint concerning racial discrimination in the workplace and have experienced retaliation may be entitled to additional damages.
FMLA OF 1993
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 mandates that covered employers offer as many as 12 weeks of unpaid leave without jeopardizing the job status of eligible employees for various family and individual medical situations. These medical situations include pregnancy and care for a newborn, placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care, care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition, and the employee’s own serious health condition. The FMLA allows employees to leave temporarily or work a less stressful schedule, depending on the severity of the circumstances.
Unpaid Overtime
Overtime pay compensates employees for working overtime.
Employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek qualify for overtime pay. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees must receive time-and-one-half pay for any hours over 40 hours in a week. However, some employees are exempt employees which means they do not qualify for overtime pay. Examples include executives and professionals.
As of 2020, anyone earning less than $684 per week, or an annual salary of $35,568, qualifies for overtime. Employees earning more may also still qualify if they do not fall into an exemption category.
There is a statute of limitations on collecting unpaid overtime. But how far back can you collect overtime pay? Federal law sets a limit of two years. That means employees must bring a claim for unpaid overtime pay within two years of their employer withholding the pay. However, if the employer “willfully” violated wage laws, the statute of limitations extends to three years.