An Employment Attorney Can Help You If You're Facing These Difficult Workplace Situations
People often think about hiring an employment attorney to pursue a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, but the reality is that these attorneys can help employees in a long list of ways. If you're dealing with a difficult situation at work, you might first decide to raise the issue with your human resources representative. However, it's possible that he or she doesn't do anything to change the situation, leaving you in a difficult position. You may wish to speak to an employment attorney to explain what is going on and seek his or her professional opinion as to whether there is merit for legal action. Here are some examples of situations that you might face.
Staying Late But Not Getting Paid
Unscrupulous companies will often coerce their employees into working more than their job description specifies but not necessarily pay them for this extra time. For example, you might clock out at 5 p.m., and routinely have your boss call you over before you leave the building and ask you to help with something. Under promises such as "It won't take long" and "I'll make it up to you," you may go along with it — until you realize that this behavior is chronic and you're not getting compensated.
Lunch Break Issues
Your local employment attorney is deeply versed in the state's rules regarding lunch breaks, so it's worth talking to him or her if you're concerned about your company's treatment of you at lunch. For example, you might routinely work through your lunch break, but not get paid because your employer tells you that lunch breaks are unpaid. When you argue, your employer might suggest that it's your choice to work, but many scenarios in your job may actually dictate the necessity of working over this period of time.
Bullying
You'd like to think that bullying ends when you graduate school, but this certainly isn't always the case. Bullying can take place in the workforce, either at the hands of those in management positions or those who are your peers. Bullying is a difficult situation in which to find yourself because you may be reluctant to raise the issue, but you also find that you're miserable at work. Given that the employer must provide a safe workplace for you, bullying is a major problem. Speak to an employment attorney to outline what you're experiencing and get his or her guidance about how to best proceed.
For more information, reach out to companies like the Law Office of Faye Riva Cohen, P.C.