Navigating workplace politics can be a complicated affair, especially if it involves your employer. While some employers can make their staff feel otherwise, this dynamic should have clear boundaries, legal protection, and financial safeguarding put in place. From overtime payments that cease to materialize to overly personal questions, here are 19 things your boss can’t legally do.
Not Pay Overtime
Even if they do it without the employer’s approval, it’s illegal not to compensate employees for working overtime. We’ve all taken on a few extra hours to make ends meet, and if this money hasn’t appeared in your wage, your boss is at fault.
Delve into Your Medical History
One of your many privacy rights as an employee is data protection, and this includes your medical records. It’s a legal no-no for employers to examine your medical records, especially without your permission. Thankfully, federal statutes such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act have been put in place for your protection.
Ask About Your Relationship Status
There have been many cases where a potential employer asks an interviewee about their marital status. This meddling usually has a practical reason, which is to gauge how likely it is for that person to leave their job. But like other private matters, questions about marital status are prohibited by law.
Not Pay Minimum Wage
Since Roosevelt introduced the first federal minimum wage in 1938, business owners have reshuffled their finances in favor of their workers. This remains the case today, and it’s highly illegal for an employer to pay staff below the minimum wage.
Lie to the Police
Worryingly, some bosses ask their employees to lie to the police, usually for the perceived benefit of the company or their own personal gain. If an employer asks you to provide false information to law enforcement, you have the right to refuse and report their behavior.
Ask About Your Religion
Unless a member of their team voluntarily talks about their religious beliefs, employers are prohibited from asking. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it’s out of the question for your boss to force the topic of religion.
Ask About Political Affiliations
The subject of political affiliations is notoriously sensitive, especially in the workplace where power dynamics are at play. Instead of forcing a political debate upon their team, employers are forbidden to ask about these beliefs if they aren’t shared voluntarily.
Fail to Provide Medical or Family Leave
Oftentimes, it’s impossible to predict what happens in life, and this is true of both positive and negative events. Whether you need family leave or medical leave due to an emergency, it’s your employer’s moral and legal obligation to grant it.
Share Personal Information
Setting boundaries in the workplace is key to fostering a positive environment, but an employer asking for or sharing personal information soon ruins this. However much they’d like to convince you otherwise, your employer is not your best friend.
Forbid You From Discussing Your Salary
According to constitutional law, employers have no authority to prohibit conversations about wages. Whether it’s out of curiosity or fear of being underpaid, it’s an employee’s right to discuss salaries with their colleagues. If the entire team takes issue with their wages, it’s their legal right to band together and stand up for change.
Terminate Your Contract Without Reason
Nowadays, a valid reason is needed before an employer can legally fire a member of staff. To terminate a contract, your boss must give a valid cause or risk paying compensatory fines. If you are fired suddenly without severance pay or proper notice, you might be entitled to a wrongful dismissal claim.
Obtain Social Media Passwords
Taking someone’s social media password without their permission is immoral in any situation, but it’s especially serious in the workplace. If an employer obtains any of their employees’ personal passwords, they’ll face disciplinary measures and legal action.
Engage in Harassment
If an employer engages in any form of harassment, including unsolicited sexual attention, they violate The Civil Rights Act and basic morality codes, There is never an excuse for such harassment to take place in the workplace, or for any discrimination based on ethnicity, race, age, or gender.
Ignore Safety Regulations
Everyone is entitled to work in a safe environment and somewhere free from hazards. Employers cannot legally or morally ignore safety regulations or deny their workforce physical protection. To support staff, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was established and has been keeping employers held accountable.
Ask You to Break the Law
Whether it’s committing fraud, financial misconduct, or disposing of documents illegally, employers have been known to ask their employees to break various laws. Even if they promise you protection or convince you that it’s “what’s best for the business,” you will be liable to criminal punishment.
Work Without Breaks
While states vary regarding how often employers must allow breaks and their duration, the general consensus is every 4-6 hours. Working for hours on end with no break isn’t just tiring; it’s against the law here in the US. If your boss isn’t allowing you to take legally required breaks, contact your state labor department and kick up a fuss.
Discriminate Based on Gender
Along with the rest of the world, the US has a long and turbulent history regarding gender equality in the workplace. Employers cannot give males in equivalent roles with similar expertise a higher salary than their female counterparts. Workplace sexism creates barriers not only to women’s success but to their well-being.
Force You to Quit
It’s a clear violation of employment laws for any boss to force a resignation, regardless of the situation. In many states, involuntary resignations have legal implications and can spell the end of a business. While an employer can’t force their workers to quit, they can, unfortunately, make it impossible for that person to stay in their job.
Withhold Pay
Withholding an employee’s pay without an incredibly specific reason is considered wage theft and is illegal. The only occasions when someone’s employer could withhold pay are in cases of theft or damage to the company.
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