Know your most important rights as an employee

Employment law applies to current employees and former workers, job applicants, and employers.

Labor laws can be complex and challenging to understand and comprehend in-depth. In addition, in California, these laws are constantly evolving. Because of this, most employees are unaware of their rights or benefits. If your rights as an employee have been violated in California, it is vital that you contact an experienced employment law attorney. They can fight to protect your rights and help you obtain the compensation you deserve. But as a critical first step, keep your most important rights in mind.

Your most important rights:

Here are some of the fundamental rights that all employees are entitled to:

• You have the right to a safe workspace free from hazardous conditions that could cause injury or illness. If a situation or activity is risky or life-threatening to a reasonable person, you can refuse to continue doing it without risking retaliation.
• You have the right to be paid a fair wage for work performed. All deductions or cuts noted by you must be reimbursed.
• You have the right to a work environment free from harassment and discrimination of all kinds. This includes age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disabilities, among others.
• You have the right not to be retaliated against for filing a complaint against an employer.
• You have a reasonable right to privacy in the workplace. This applies to your personal belongings like backpacks, purses, etc. Basically, things that are accessible only to the employee and that contain private belongings. You also have the right to privacy in personal telephone conversations. However, this does not apply to work emails or use of the Internet while using the employer’s network and computer system during business hours.

In addition to employees, job applicants also have rights, even if they are not technically employees. They have the right not to be discriminated against due to characteristics such as race, nationality, religion, age, or gender during the hiring process.