As an employee, your prerogative is probably to do whatever your employer asks of you. Most employees do whatever they can to ensure they can earn an income and secure their jobs.
That attitude has led to severe violations of employee rights where employees will tolerate any kind of treatment from employers as long as they receive payment. If employees knew their rights in the workplace, they would not stand for such treatment.
Every employee has rights when at work, to which they should ensure employers adhere. The rights every employee should have in the workplace include:
Right to Receive Equal Pay for Equal Work
If you do the same job with another employee, both of you should receive equal rates per hour for your work. If the employees have the same educational qualifications, experience and do the same job with the same level of expertise, they have the right to receive the same level of pay.
Unfortunately, many employers will discriminate against employees based on factors such as gender, religion, race, age, and sexual orientation, among others. Doing so leads to disparities among employees, particularly based on the pay they receive.
If you can prove that you are not receiving equal pay for equal work with other employees, you should immediately report the issue to your company’s human resource department. You could receive an increase in income as well as back pay.
Right to Get Copies of Documents You Sign
Whenever you sign a document at the workplace, you have the right to ask for a copy of the document to keep for yourself. Many employees rarely do this, and it often gets them in difficult positions where they cannot produce the documents.
You should also ensure you read the documents conclusively or have an employment lawyer in San Diego look it over. Having the document evaluated by an employment law attorney from HaeLaw.com is also a good idea.
They will tell you the legal ramifications of the document you sign, which you may not completely understand.
The documents will function as proof if there is ever an issue of contention between you and your employer. It never hurts to ask for a copy of a document, and the price of not getting it might be very high.
Right to Refuse to Perform Unsafe Work
The work environment you are in will affect your entire life. Therefore, if you feel like you are working in an unsafe environment, you should know that you have the right to refuse to work in such an environment.
You should never compromise your safety and endanger yourself at work if you can take steps to make your job more secure. If your employer refuses to make the work environment safe for work, you have the right to refuse to work for the organization.
Report the issue to your employer and do not work until the work environment is safe enough. If your employer takes any action against you for refusing to work in a dangerous environment, you can take legal action against them.
Right to Information Privacy
An employer typically has a lot of information about their employees. The data will include personal details, banking information, medical history, and employment data too.
As an employee, you have the right to have your information remain within the company only to be distributed with your consent. Employers may not only sell employee information, but they may also leverage it to get employees to take actions they did not want.
If you discover that your employer has wrongfully used your information, you should consult an employment lawyer.
You have many rights as an employee in the workplace, and the ones above are the tip of the iceberg. If you think your rights are being violated, feel free to stand up for your rights. No salary is worth giving away your freedom.
