People who are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace often have a lot of questions about their rights. For example, employees often have a hard time establishing whether they experienced actual harassment that might justify taking legal action. Even when workers readily acknowledge that a situation might make them eligible for a sexual harassment lawsuit, they may still have a hard time proving their case. Someone who experiences workplace sexual harassment needs enough evidence to convince their employer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and/or the civil courts of ..read more

Employers can’t prevent employees from discussing their wages due to legal protections that are in place to promote transparency and fairness in the workplace. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 protects your rights as an employee to take steps to ensure fair working conditions, including preventing wage discrimination. Discussing your wages falls under that umbrella. The NLRA specifically protects you as long as you’re a non-supervisory employee. It doesn’t matter if you’re part of a union or not. You have a dedicated right to discuss wages and other terms and conditions of emplo ..read more

Contrary to popular belief, sexual harassment at work isn’t just about sex; it’s also usually about a perpetrator creating a hostile working environment by abusing their power over the victim because of the victim’s gender. While in most cases, sexual harassment perpetrators are men, women too can also harass men sexually when they’re in a position of power. Suppose you feel sexually harassed at work; you should take immediate action to help prevent the harasser from making your time at work unbearable. What is sexual harassment? Sexual harassment can manifest in various forms, creating a host ..read more

Workers typically sign employment contracts when they accept new positions. The excitement about a fresh opportunity often leads to a worker rushing through the contract negotiation process with little concern for what the paperwork might mean for their future. Then, when circumstances change in a few years, they may begin to worry about what the contract includes. Some employers in Ohio still sometimes require that certain workers sign non-compete agreements. These restrictive covenants prohibit seeking employment with direct competitors or starting a competing business. Does a non-compete ag ..read more

People often find allegations of workplace sexual harassment confusing because they don’t understand what constitutes harassment. Those experiencing harassment may not recognize that fact, and those engaged in harassment may have such a restrictive definition of sexual harassment that they think their behavior is harmless. For a worker to effectively advocate for themselves in the workplace, they need to have a deep understanding of what sexual harassment can involve and who could commit an act of sexual harassment in the workplace. There are the three primary perpetrators of most significant ..read more

Receiving a new job offer is an exciting moment when someone’s daily life and finances may change significantly. Employers could offer someone a more competitive salary or more flexible scheduling that makes a new position very appealing. Unfortunately, new jobs sometimes result in new challenges that could be concerning in nature. For example, employers might try to manipulate employment arrangements to avoid legal and financial responsibilities. In recent years, many employers in Ohio and across the United States in general have started tricking workers into accepting unfavorable employment ..read more

Service-based professions can be an excellent starting point for someone’s career, as workers can potentially benefit from a flexible schedule. Service careers can also be very lucrative for those with the determination to work hard and earn the best gratuities possible. Those working in service professions deserve the same dignity and workplace rights as those in any other industry. Yet, those in the service industry necessarily encounter a lot of people, which puts them at elevated risk of harassment and discrimination due to the sheer number of individuals (each with their own conscious and ..read more

When a worker transitions from one company to another, there can be some financial challenges involved. Especially if a worker does not have much advance notice of the end of their employment with one company, they may have to accept a lower-paid position elsewhere or may find themselves in an awkward scenario in which they may go months without obtaining a new job. Many professionals in well-compensated careers protect themselves against the sudden loss of their job and the inconvenience that could follow by negotiating a severance package with their employers. Also called separation agreemen ..read more

The loss of a job can serve as a dire financial setback for someone with a mortgage and/or a family to support. The more highly-compensated a worker is and the larger the number of workers let go simultaneously, the greater the likelihood that they may struggle to find comparable employment nearby in a timely manner. Large-scale terminations, like layoffs after a merger, often result in a glut of workers on the market and a dearth of comparable positions. Someone who has been let go as part of a layoff may eventually start noticing a pattern that connects them with the other workers let go at ..read more

It’s hard to know what to expect when you’re expecting – but one thing you shouldn’t have to worry about is pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, which involves unfavorable treatment in any aspect of employment, is illegal under both federal and state laws. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop it from happening. Sometimes, in fact, pregnancy discrimination flies under an employee’s radar, and they don’t recognize what’s going on until they’re already at a disadvantage. If you’re pregnant, here are two forms of pregnancy discrimination you should know ..read more