Essential Rights for Every Employee in the Workplace

The Workplace Rights You Absolutely Have

Despite the multiple advocacy groups and general demeanor in our politics currently emphasizing people’s rights, many employees endure unfair treatment without realizing they have legal protections in place — or that a workers’ rights lawyer can help them enforce these protections. Whether you are facing discrimination, subject to disparate treatment, or overlooked for reasonable accommodations, there are federal and state laws that are absolutely on your side. This entry on the blog is meant as a reminder to the rights you’re entitled to!

The Right to a Safe Working Environment

Every employee deserves to go to work without fear. Federal law mandates that employers maintain a safe working environment free from known hazards — physical, emotional, and legal. This includes protection from harassment, retaliation, and hostile conditions based on who you are.

Protection Against Discrimination

Discrimination protections under federal law cover a wide range of protected classes, including race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status), national origin, age (40 and older), and disability. Even decades after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, studies show a majority of Black workers and high percentages of other workers of color, as well as women and LGBTQ+ workers, report having experienced discrimination in hiring.

Discrimination can take many forms: being passed over for promotion, receiving lower wages, missing out on responsibilities, enduring a hostile work environment, or being terminated based on your membership in one of these protected classes. If any of these have happened to you, you should certainly ensure you have legal recourse.

Gender Equality and the Right to Equal Pay

Gender equality in the workplace is not just a social ideal — it is the law. The ACLU works to ensure that all workers — regardless of gender, race, national origin, age, or disability — are able to bring home every dollar they rightfully earn.

Your right to equal pay is protected under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The law guarantees that men and women performing substantially equal work in the same establishment must receive equal compensation. This covers not just base salary, but also overtime, bonuses, benefits, and other forms of pay. There have been complaints in recent years regarding the inefficiencies of the EPA, namely that it offers limited remedies for the victim to feel whole after their case is settled. There are two judicial interpretations of the EPA that have conflicted with the definition of what a “working environment” is, which have weakened the effectiveness of the EPA.

To settle these inefficiencies, the Paycheck Fairness Act was reintroduced in the House during the 118th Congress in 2023. The PFA will allow prevailing plaintiffs to recover compensatory and punitive damages; compensatory damages include out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the discrimination and compensation for non-economic damages such as loss of reputation and mental anguish. Punitive damages would be allowed only in cases of intentional discrimination involving malice and reckless disregard and would not apply in cases against the United States. 

Disability Awareness and the Right to Reasonable Accommodations

Disability awareness in the workplace begins with understanding your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. According to the law, disabilities may be physical, medical, mental, or psychological. They generally limit a person’s ability to perform ordinary “major life activities” such as walking, hearing, seeing, concentrating, or even interacting with others. Employers are legally required to provide disability accommodations to qualified employees — meaning any modification or adjustment to a job or work environment that allows a person with a disability to perform essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may include adjusted schedules, modified equipment, remote work arrangements, or structural accessibility improvements. An employer can only refuse if the accommodation would cause undue hardship.

Critically, the ADA also prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee for requesting or asserting these rights.

When Should I Contact an Employee Rights’ Attorney?

You should consider contacting a workers’ rights lawyer if you have experienced any of the following:

• You were fired, demoted, or harassed because of your race, gender, religion, age, disability, or other protected characteristic according to Title VII.
• You are being paid less than your colleagues of another gender for the same amount of work.
• Your request for disability or religious accommodations was denied without proper justification from your employer.
• You faced retaliation after reporting discrimination or unsafe conditions to a supervisor or an HR specialist.
• Your employer has violated your rights in any way covered under current federal or state law.

 

Call a New York Employment Law Attorney Now

Time matters. Many discrimination claims have strict filing deadlines, so acting promptly is essential to protecting your rights. At Filippatos PLLC, our team of distinguished discrimination lawyers are to fight for you, every step of the way. If you are experiencing discrimination at work, please give us a call at 888-9-JOBLAW for a free consultation. We will do our utmost to help secure you the justice you deserve.