Employees have specific rights in the workplace, none of which should be violated by employers. Even though those rights are normally respected, there are times when employees may have to speak up about illegal activities within the company. Some of those may be wary about reporting the issues because they’re concerned about retaliation.
In the workforce, retaliation is always illegal. Any negative employment action, whether covert or overt, that’s in direct response to a protected activity is considered retaliation. There are many different protected activities, some of which include reporting things like sexual harassment or discrimination. Others are centered around being denied lawfully allowed leave, such as leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
What are some examples of retaliation?
Retaliation is sometimes a bold action by the employer. For example, they may terminate, demote or reduce the hours of the individual who engaged in the protected activity. It’s also possible that the retaliation won’t be as noticeable, such as passing over the employee for a special project or failing to tell them about a meeting they should have attended.
In order to be considered retaliation, the action must have been because of the protected activity. This means that employees must still follow the rules because they can still face disciplinary measures if they don’t. Any discipline must be the same as what any other employee would face if they broke the same rule.
Retaliation can be a challenging thing to prove, so it may be beneficial to work with someone familiar with this area of employment law. That individual can help you to learn what you should do to prepare.