Employees have a right to make certain complaints or official reports when they feel that they are being mistreated in some way. For instance, an employee may file a report relating to safety if they feel they are working in an unsafe workplace They may report sexual harassment or racial discrimination to human resources. These are just a few examples.
It is important for employers to understand that they need to give their workers the ability to make these reports without fear of reprisal. A worker should never keep this information to themselves because they are scared that they’re going to be fired and lose their job. Employers cannot threaten termination, and it could be a wrongful termination if they fire an employee because they made such a report.
How else might retaliation occur?
But termination alone is not the only thing that constitutes illegal retaliation. Other examples could be:
- Changing the employee’s duties and responsibilities
- Changing the employee’s work schedule
- Transferring the employee to a different department
- Cutting back on the number of hours the employee gets on the weekly schedule
- Reducing the employee’s pay
- Denying requests for personal time off
- Preventing the employee from getting raises or promotions
- Starting to give negative performance reviews when the employee’s performance has not changed
Essentially, employees just need to know that they aren’t going to be treated in a negative fashion because they made a valid report. However, there are cases in which disputes may still arise. If they do, it is important for both employers and employees to understand exactly what legal rights and obligations they have. If you believe that you’ve been subjected to unlawful retaliation in the workplace, you should speak to an experienced law firm to help you decide your next move.