Can you imagine finishing four years of university, getting a dream job, and realizing that working is not what you imagined? Well, a lot of people feel this way, but luckily, there are employers who are aware of how it was when they were at their first job. Many first-time employees are told never to settle for a bad workplace that don’t treat them well and and grant them their basic employee rights. Here are some of the most important employee rights all employers should be familiar with if they want to keep them for many years to come.
Wage and Hour Law
For many inexperienced employees getting their first job can be exciting, but also terrifying because they don’t know their basic rights – they might even settle on the horrible treatment – like working overtime ALL the time and not getting paid, or not having paid leave days. Experts at ECLaw state that employees can file a claim if your company is unable to provide them with their basic rights. But you as an employer have a duty to provide them with a strict schedule of set working hours and a minimum wage. This is both for full-time workers, and part-timers such as interns.
Discrimination Law
A workplace shouldn’t be like going to high school, with the only difference being that the adults are bullying you. If your employees are faced with any form of discrimination due to their race, sexuality, age, religion, or disability at the workplace, this is breaking the basic human rights law. In no circumstance can a colleague or an employer make remarks or treat one employee differently than the rest simply because they are different. If this happens, they have the full right to take this matter to court, so try to always be aware when such issues occur and listen to your employees when they reach out to you with such sensitive matters.
Workplace Safety Law
Regardless if you are working in an office or if you are working with hazardous chemicals – you as an employer have to provide your employees with a safe environment! It’s too common for workplace injuries to happen, but some are more preventable than others. This is especially for those who work in a dangerous field, having faulty or old gear can double the level of danger you can face. So it’s up to the company to provide the employees with the best possible equipment to do their jobs properly, and on top of that to be safe. Nobody would like to work in an environment where they are terrified for their safety all the time! If you can, gather your colleagues and discuss this with them, see if they suffered any workplace injuries, and try to figure a way to prevent these problems from reoccurring.
Privacy Law
Your employees are human beings above all, and if there’s something they deserve – it’s privacy over their personal information. Just because your employees had to disclose details about their personal lives to get a job, that doesn’t mean that you as an employer can spill that information around. Their personal information should stay between you, them, and your company. Private information is not required for a job in every state, it also all depends on the type of job you are applying for, but regardless of that, any confidential information like someone’s physical or mental health should not be disclosed to anyone.
The Freedom to Make a Claim
Working in a giant corporation, employees might feel like an ant compared to the company itself. But you shouldn’t let that scare them away from voicing their opinions and asking for better treatment at your workplace. You, as an employer, have an obligation to protect your employees, while they have full right to sue the company if they don’t follow the basic employee rights and regulations have been respected. Many such huge cases have been happening over the years, regardless of a business being small or a giant company. Employees can make a personal claim, or even go one step further and gather all their colleagues to file a class action case against your company. At the end of the day, you want to be the one on their side, not the one they wish to sue.
When candidates apply for a job, they are devoting their time and energy to it, and with that, they expect the bare minimum when it comes to their rights. These include a safe environment to work in, but many companies seem not to care when it comes to these types of things. That’s why it’s up to the employee to speak up and know their rights, and why your job as an employer should be to protect them. No job is worth the discrimination and suffering, jobs are hard on their own and you want to experience a safe space around you. So speak up for your employees and never let yourself be associated with bad treatment!
And if you want to find a great office space for your great emloyees, that is what we can help you with. It is what we do with our network of over 450 local tenant reps. All at no cost to you. Contact us today for your no obligation consultation.