5 employment laws every worker should know

What are your rights?

In today’s era, more people are aware of workplace laws, which is why companies are concerned about valuing their employees. State and federal laws are there to protect employees from sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, discrimination, and retaliation.

However, you need to know that such laws vary in different states, so it is imperative for you to know about the regulations in your city. As an employee, you are entitled to several rights at the workplace. If you don’t know about them, it will be hard for you to work in the corporate sector. In this feature, we will guide you through a few employment laws:

1. FMLA

If you don’t know, FMLA, which stands for family medical leave act, allows you to take leave from work if you have a sick loved one at home. This means the FMLA can easily protect you and your job when you’re not at work. Every year, thousands of workers get sacked from a job when employers get angry with them for not coming to work. If you are aware of the FMLA, always use it to protect yourself from any kind of emotional damage at the workplace.

2. It is not always legal for your boss to take tips

If you are a part of the service industry, you must have thought about it several times. In simple terms, when it comes to the corporate sector, a boss cannot take an employee’s tips. If a boss gets upset with the given suggestions, the employee’s hourly rate could get damaged. Furthermore, tip pooling also works as long as it is legally allowed within the premises of the office. So the next time you plan to give some tips to your boss, don’t forget to weigh the pros and cons of doing it.

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3. Your lunch break is legal

Although there is a discrimination between the state laws, you have to be careful when taking a lunch break at work. According to law, you can take a break at work, and your employer can never force you to skip lunch. If you are skeptical about the lunch break laws in your state, it is best to check with the HR department in your office. If you don’t take breaks at work and eat well, it will be hard for you to focus on work. You can hire a top labor lawyer If your employer fires you for an unfair reason.

4. Mind the gender pay gap

Currently, the gender pay gap is still a hot debate in the UK, even after the government sought to eradicate this problem in 2017. Back in the same year, authorities demanded the private sector to provide details of their gender pay gap so that they could work out possible solutions for this problem. For instance, if you are denied the same salary as a man, you can approach your employer. Unfortunately, the gender pay gap has been prevalent for centuries, which is why it is hard to completely eradicate.

5. Holiday pay is still different in the public and private sector

Although it sounds weird, the concept of holiday pay is still debated across the UK. Especially when it comes to the private and public sector, whether to give holiday pay or not itself is a big discourse. Unfortunately, when it comes to the private sector, many companies are still not willing to pay for holidays.

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However, if you want to join the public sector, the way holiday pay is calculated is often disputed.


About Kay Garrett

I’m Henpicked's editor, which means I'm lucky enough to spend my time reading the fabulous articles our authors send in. I'm a massive James Bond fan, an Agatha Christie geek and love films and books in general. Most of my spare time is spent with my husband and our two lively and very lovely daughters.