Calabasas Employment Law Blog

Every day, your employer asks you to work through your lunch break. Some of the time, it is very obvious: Your boss tells you there is too much to do and you need to eat at your desk. On other days, he or she implies it, perhaps by saying that dedicated employees will find ways to get more done throughout the day.

Either way, you cannot remember the last time you actually took time off for lunch. You know the rest of the workers in your office feel the same way. People complain about it, but it is just part of the company culture. This is a highly competitive field. People make sacrifices.

It is important for workers to understand that there are reasons for terminating their employment that may be considered illegal. Workers have important legal protections against this type of prohibited activity that they should be familiar with and understand. To protect their rights, they must be aware of what they are.

Examples of potential wrongful termination include terminating an employee for reporting misappropriation of public funds; terminating an employee for refusing to commit fraud such as Medicare fraud; terminating an employee for refusing to violate the law; terminating an employee for protesting illegal or unsafe working conditions; terminating an employee for demanding appropriate overtime compensation; termination an employee for refusing to engage in retaliation or discrimination; or terminating an employee for reporting workplace discrimination, harassment or retaliation.

Wage and hour protections are available at both state and federal levels and it may be possible to make a complaint through both. When a worker has been denied overtime pay or minimum wage, they may be able to recover wages they are owed by understanding how they can report wage and hour violations.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are required to pay workers at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay for employees who work over 40 hours in a week. When workers have been denied the wages they are due, they may be able to receive back pay for the wages they were wrongly denied through the complaint process.

Workplace discrimination is a serious concern for the stability of workers and is prohibited in the workplace. To protect their rights against workplace discrimination, it is important for workers to be familiar with what those rights are and how to enforce them when they have been violated. In addition to protections against workplace discrimination, workers cannot be retaliated against for complaining about workplace discrimination.

The law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or prospective employees on the basis of race; color; national origin; sex, which includes gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy; disability or genetic information. In addition, employers are prohibited from discriminating when posting job advertisements, when recruiting and in the application, interview and hiring processes.