Employees have important rights in the workplace, but many do not fully understand them. If you have a dispute with your employer, an employment lawyer might help you to resolve the issue. Employment attorneys represent either employees or employers to help them resolve workplace issues. As an employee, an employment lawyer who focuses on representing workers can help you if you have a dispute with your employer about safety in the workplace, your wages, illegal discrimination, retaliation, or wrongful termination. Here is some information from Swartz Swidler about when to hire an employment lawyer.
What Is an Employment Lawyer?
Employment attorneys are lawyers that deal with employment issues. Many employment laws govern the workplace, and employment lawyers have a deep understanding of how these laws apply. Some employment lawyers represent plaintiffs (employees), while others represent defendants (employers). Some employment lawyers represent either employees or employers in specific cases.
The Job of an Employment Lawyer
Employment lawyers deal with all aspects of employment, including wage and hour issues, workplace discrimination, safety issues, wrongful termination, leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and others. A plaintiff’s lawyer might help employees learn about their rights, determine whether their employers have violated them and whether taking legal action makes sense. Your lawyer will help you to exhaust all internal remedies before you file a complaint. Many employment laws require employees to exhaust the internal remedies within their companies before they can file complaints in court or with an administrative agency. For some types of cases involving pay issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an employment lawyer can help to determine whether an employee’s rights have been violated and help them to recover the compensation they are owed.
Whenever you encounter an issue at work that makes you think your rights might have been violated, it’s a good idea to talk to an employment lawyer. Numerous employment laws govern the workplace, so it makes sense to ask a lawyer for guidance.
When to Hire an Employment Lawyer
You should talk to an employment lawyer whenever you believe that your employer has treated you badly at work and have questions about whether your rights have been violated. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to hire an employment lawyer immediately. You can ask for guidance from the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to get an idea of whether your rights might have been violated.
You can consult an employment lawyer whenever you think your employer might have violated your rights. An attorney can provide you with guidance about pursuing internal remedies to try to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t work, it might be time to hire an employment lawyer. The attorney can then help you file a complaint with the appropriate administrative agency and gather and submit supporting evidence.
The agency will investigate your claim. If it doesn’t find enough evidence, you will be given a right-to-sue letter. At that point, you can file a lawsuit with the help of an attorney. Having the help of an attorney during this process can make a difference in the outcome of your case.
How Can You Protect Your Rights?
To protect your rights, make sure to keep records of each incident that you believe is problematic. Write down the dates, times, and names of people who were present. Ask your human resources department for a copy of your personnel records, including your performance evaluations and others. Save text messages, emails, and other communications that you have with your employer or the offending party. If you believe you are being discriminated against based on your protected characteristics or are being harassed, file a written complaint with human resources. If your employer does not do anything about your complaint or retaliates against you for complaining, speak to an employment lawyer as soon as possible.
Your employer should have an employee handbook with policies and rules. Make sure to bring all of the documents you have saved, the journal you’ve kept with the various incidents that have occurred, your employee handbook, and a copy of the complaint you filed internally. The employment lawyer will want to review the documents to assess the merits of your potential claim.
Talk to an Employment Lawyer
If you are an employee who believes that your rights have been violated by your employer, you should speak to an employment lawyer at Swartz Swidler. Our experienced attorneys focus on all aspects of employment law and can help you understand your legal options. Call us to request a free consultation at (856) 685-7420.
