Illegal Working Conditions
If you get injured while working for a private company or a state or local government, ask your state for help. Your state compensation program can help you make a claim. If your application is rejected, you can appeal. If you have any questions about your specific situation, please contact a GrahamHollis APC lawyer today. We may assess your situation and determine whether your working conditions are legal under applicable national laws and local regulations. It is also illegal to harass someone for complaining of discrimination, filing a discrimination lawsuit, or participating in a workplace discrimination investigation or prosecution. Filing a health and safety claim: If you choose to make a health and safety claim, you must contact Cal/OSHA. The agency will then investigate the health and safety violations and your employer may be forced to stop its illegal practices. Cal/OSHA should not ask you about your immigration status or report your missing status if it is revealed in any way.
It is illegal for an employer to post a job posting that shows a preference for someone or discourages them from applying for a job based on their race, colour, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 years or older), disability or genetic information. If you think the working conditions are unsafe or unhealthy, you can file a confidential complaint with OSHA and request an inspection. If possible, communicate your concerns to your employer. Undocumented workers are at even greater risk if their employers retaliate against them by reporting them to the ICE. Even if the employer acts illegally, ICE generally has the right to investigate the employer`s report. If ICE continues, it may try to deport you. Even worse, if you used false information or false papers when you applied for your job, you can be criminally charged, fined, deported, and/or prevented from living and working in the United States again. These harsh penalties may apply even if you are married to a U.S. citizen, have children with U.S. citizenship, or have lived in the U.S.
for many years. However, California expressly prohibits reporting or threatening to report a worker`s or family member`s citizenship or immigration status because the employee has exercised a right under the California Labor Code, and the company may suspend or revoke its license if the DLSE or a court determines that an employer retaliated against a complainant employee. Under laws enforced by the EEOC, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone (applicant or employee) on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 years of age or older), disability, or genetic information. It is also illegal to retaliate against a person who has complained of discrimination, filed a discrimination lawsuit, or participated in an investigation or prosecution of discrimination in the workplace. It is illegal for an employer to make decisions about assignments and promotions based on an employee`s race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 years or older), disability, or genetic information. For example, an employer cannot give preference to workers of a particular race in shiftwork and cannot separate workers of a particular national origin from other workers or clients. If you work or plan to work in extreme temperatures, deal with symptoms of heat stress (hot, dry skin; Sweat; Hallucinations; high temperature; Confusion; and dizziness) and cold stress (tremors, fatigue, loss of coordination, blue skin, dilated pupils). If this happens to you or a co-worker, don`t wait to see if it gets worse: notify your supervisor, start first aid in cold or hot weather and, if indicated, call 911.
Employers often let employees work in illegal conditions. Do you have to stand throughout your shift when much of your work could be done sitting? Do you work outdoors and don`t have cooling breaks in hot weather? Are you sometimes programmed to work and report to work as scheduled, but your supervisor sends you home before the end of your scheduled shift? Do you sometimes have to work seven days a week without a day off? Does your employer not pay you sick pay? Yes. Under federal and California anti-discrimination laws, employers are not allowed to unlawfully discriminate against employees, including undocumented workers. Therefore, even if you are an undocumented employee, your employer cannot fire you, refuse to hire you, harass you, or take other action against you because of your national origin (including English language skills), race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, your age or disability, or (under California law) for other reasons such as your sexual orientation. Gender identity (e.g., transgender status) Marital status and political beliefs. However, if you were fired by your employer as part of discrimination, it is less clear whether you can get the income you lost because you were laid off or if you can get your job back. Undocumented workers generally have the same wage and working hours rights as other workers. Therefore, the same federal and California pay and hours laws that apply to authorized workers generally apply to people who work without legal immigration status.
These laws establish your right to minimum wage, overtime pay, breaks, tips and other forms of wages. For example, an employer can`t refuse to pay you by saying you shouldn`t have worked in the first place because you don`t have “papers.” (However, if you were laid off because you have a pay complaint, it is less clear whether you can recover the income you lost as a result of the layoff.) Protection from retaliation It is illegal for an employer to terminate, disparage, transfer, or retaliate against an employee who complains to OSHA and uses his or her legal rights. If you believe you have suffered reprisal in any way, file a whistleblower complaint within 30 days of the alleged reprisal. Harassment can take the form of insults, graffiti, abusive or derogatory comments, or other verbal or physical behaviour. Sexual harassment (including unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favours and other behaviour of a sexual nature) is also illegal. While the law does not prohibit mere teasing, casual comments or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal if it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment, or if it leads to an unfavourable employment decision (for example, if the victim is dismissed or demoted). Employers are required to refuse or terminate the employment of an undocumented worker as soon as they learn that she does not have a work permit. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) prohibits employers from knowingly hiring or continuing to employ undocumented workers. Therefore, when an employee is hired, her employer must request documents proving her identity and permission to work in the United States, and these documents must “reasonably appear to be genuine.” But if your colleagues agree with you, it`s time to talk to whoever controls the thermostat in your workplace. This person may not realize that they have made people uncomfortable. Whether you`re dealing with a business owner or a civil engineer, it will be hard to ignore a group of you working together. Yes.
If you are an undocumented worker who does not work for the government, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects your right to form a union, elect a union, and bargain collectively with employers.
