An employment attorney will represent you when there are issues that involve federal and state employment law. Basically, this is a specialized attorney that guarantees you are treated consistently and fairly while making sure that the employer is in compliance with federal, state, or even local laws.
The work of employment attorneys is vast and covers many different legal issues, like:
- Wrongful termination
- Sexual harassment
- Workplace discrimination
- Whistleblower protection
- Employee benefits
- Contract violations
In many cases, these lawyers will represent the employees who do not have a union, which practically makes them powerless in dealing with employers that wrong them.
So when should I hire the employment attorney?
You have to know that your employer can commit several unlawful actions. This might violate your rights or at least put you at a serious disadvantage for something. With this in mind, you want to contact the employment lawyer as soon as possible when you are faced with any of the following situations:
- You have been harassed while at work.
- You have experienced discriminatory treatment due to a protected characteristic like pregnancy or race.
- Your employer retaliated against you when you exercised one of your rights, like asking for overtime pay, which is allowed by law.
- Your employment was terminated with a violation of the employment contract. This can be implied or express.
- You are being forced to sign a waiver through which you renounce some of your rights.
- Your employer did not offer the benefits that were stipulated in the employment contract.
We should also discuss the situation in which you are injured or you become sick while at work. In this case, the attorney can help you to file the workers’ compensation claim. This is recommended because having an attorney do it for you will drastically reduce the possibility of being denied.
You can also hire this type of attorney when you work in a workplace that is not unionized and you do want a union. In this case, the employment attorney will help you by telling you what your rights are, including the activities that you can start as you are in a union. Employees would thus be much more aware of the rights they have, like working in an environment that is free of discrimination of any kind.
As expected, the employment attorney can also be hired by the employer. This would offer information about responsibilities and rights connected to the union workers, together with efforts needed to help employees unionize.
Final Thoughts
To put things simply, you need to get in touch with the employment lawyer as soon as possible after becoming aware of a problem. When you wait, you are delaying the process. This can lead to not being able to prevent the unlawful actions of the employer. Also, you should know that there are time limits when it comes to filing complaints. Delays can easily lead to not being able to receive the benefits or compensations you are entitled to, which is the worst-case scenario whenever something serious happens at work.
