American workers have fought for better workplace conditions and fair treatment for years. Labor laws have been developed throughout history to enforce fair and humane expectations for workers across all industries. Some of the basic rights include a guaranteed minimum wage, break time after a set amount of consecutive work, workers’ compensation and more.
Despite what the law says, many employers willingly choose to violate basic employee rights. Unfortunately, many workers in large cities including Los Angeles are victims of illegal employment practices. Victims need to know their rights and how to defend them through legal representation if any change is going to occur.
Study shows employee violations
In a study conducted by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), employee rights were disregarded in each of the eight categories investigated. This included workers’ compensation laws, overtime violations, unlawful pay record information and more. The study revealed nearly 70 percent of workers were not compensated for working early or later than their scheduled shift. Another report from the study showed 69 percent of employees did not receive their fair amount of rest and meal breaks. Break-times were either cut-short or not granted at all.
Ignorance pays (the other person)
Workers who do not examine the deductions on their paystub are liable for deception by their employers, who may be exploiting their ignorance for financial gain. Employers were found to have taken up to 41 percent of workers in terms of unlawful paystub deductions. The most vulnerable of workers shown were minorities who have little education or proficiency in English. These types of workers were at the highest risk of employee violation due to ignorance.
Taking a stand against illegal behavior by your employer is critical to holding employers accountable for their actions. Employees do not deserve exploitation and national laws were created to prevent this from happening. It is your right to blow the whistle on your place of employment and acquire legal representation for any rights being violated at your workplace.