Santa Barbara Employment Law Blog

One of the worst things that an employer can do is to take advantage of their employees by not paying them accurately. Employers may do this in one of many ways, from "estimating" hours worked to failing to pay overtime for hours worked past the normal work week.

As an employee, you can take steps to protect yourself against unfair treatment by your employer. It's important to track your wages, so that you have evidence if you are not being paid correctly. This can also help you point out discrepancies in pay to your employer, so they can correct mistakes when made.

When workers face retaliation in California, reactions vary. Some people may struggle to keep their jobs for as long as possible. Another set of workers may move on and never look back, preferring to forget the incidents that led to the complaint and subsequent retaliation. Others may wish to seek legal recourse but first need to know where to begin.

According to NPR, retaliation claims exceed even racial discrimination claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It now makes up 45% of EEOC claims. Retaliation refers to adverse actions against a worker following the filing of a discrimination charge or making a complaint. These actions may include harassing, demoting or firing workers.

Most California employees have undergone sexual harassment seminars at their jobs and understand what behaviors are unacceptable in the workplace. While most awareness campaigns about workplace sexual harassment focus on women who experience it, men may also be targets of these behaviors. However, it may be more difficult for men to report sexual harassment due to a number of factors.

According to a CNBC poll, sexual harassment at work has happened to approximately one in five American adults. The report indicates that 10% percent of men reported being survivors of sexual harassment at work. While this number is lower than the 27% of women who said they experienced sexual harassment, it is not an insignificant statistic. In the survey, there were fewer men than women who believed their employers took sexual harassment complaints seriously.

Although there are laws in California that protect workers from discrimination, this still occurs throughout all occupations and industries. Sometimes discrimination is more subtle, while other times it may result in someone losing their job or facing a demotion. There are different types of discrimination, and sometimes an employee may not even know it is occurring.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, discrimination protection extends to a wide variety of situations. Some, such as those that refer to one's gender, race, religion or age, are more well known. Some of the others may not be as obvious. For example, marital, political or parental status should not affect hiring or pay decisions. However, victims of this type of discrimination need to report them to the Office of Special Council or the Merit Systems Protection Board as opposed to the EEOC.