Employee Survival Guide®

Know Your Labor Law Rights

• Mark Carey | Employment Lawyer & Employee Advocate • Season 7 • Episode 65

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Your job can feel “at will” in the worst way until you learn the parts of labor law your employer hopes you never look up. We get blunt about the real workplace rights that exist outside the company handbook: protection from discrimination, the right to a safe workplace, the ability to file a workers’ compensation claim, and the legal shield against retaliation when you report wage theft, harassment, or safety problems. 

We also break down the truth about at-will employment in most states: your employer may be able to fire you for almost any reason, but not for illegal reasons. The catch is that they often rely on you not knowing where that line is or how to prove what happened. That’s why we focus on quick wins you can use immediately, like documenting dates, times, witnesses, and exact quotes, and rebuilding the timeline into a clear, chronological affidavit of facts when you need it. 

Then we get tactical about discrimination and protected classes, including how people can fall into multiple categories at once, and why that matters when discipline or termination starts to look suspicious. We also talk severance agreements, releases of claims, and settlement documents: your signature is worth real money, which means a severance offer can be leverage to negotiate for more, not a rushed formality. Finally, we explain why retaliation is illegal even if your initial complaint was wrong, and how timing often becomes a key piece of evidence. 

If you’re in Connecticut or New York and something feels off at work, check out capclaw.com. Subscribe, share the Employee Survival Guide with a coworker, and leave a review. What’s one workplace “rule” you were told that turned out not to be true?

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For more information, please contact our employment attorneys at Carey & Associates, P.C. at 203-255-4150, www.capclaw.com.

Disclaimer:  For educational use only, not intended to be legal advice. 

Welcome And The Real Rights

At-Will Employment And The Line

Quick Win One Document Everything

Protected Classes And Illegal Bias

Severance Papers And Negotiation Leverage

Retaliation Claims And Timing

Severance Is Often Rights Buyout

How To Get Help And Share

SPEAKER_00

Hey, it's Mark, and welcome to the next edition of the Employee Survival Guide where I tell you everything your employer does not want you to know about. Today we're talking about labor law rights, the real ones, not the watered down version your company handbook gives you. Most employees think labor law is just minimum wage and overtime, but that's not true. It's only the beginning. Labor law rights include the right to be treated fairly without discrimination, the right to a safe workplace, the right to file a workers' comp claim if you're injured, and powerful protections against retaliation when you speak up. But here's the truth, no one tells you. In most states, you're at will, which means your employer can fire you for almost any reason except for illegal ones. The problem? They count on you knowing, knowing where that line is. And here are the quick wins for today. Number one, document everything. Dates, times, witnesses, what was said. Your memory is not evidence. Your notes are. But your memory is a very powerful tool, and we rely upon it with our clients every single day to write affidavits. So if you didn't record something, don't worry. It's in your head. You can remember, write it down. So I remember write down an affidavit of facts, chronologically speaking. Number two, know the protected classes you're in. You might fall in multiples race, gender, age over 40, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and more. Harassment or determination tied to any of these is illegal, and you need to know what your rights are, because they are leveraged for you. Number three, never sign anything without reading it, especially a severance or release of claims document, a settlement agreement that they're called. That signature is worth real money to them, the employer, and it's worth real money to you. So use your severance agreement as leverage to get what you want. Ask for more money if you can. Number four, retaliation is illegal even if the original complaint was wrong. If you reported wage theft, harassment, or safety issues and suddenly get written up or fired, that's a labor law rights violation. And so retaliation is an easy claim to prove. It's proximity of time between the complaint and what happened to you afterwards, like getting fired. The biggest secret: over 90% of employees are at will. Probably even higher than that. So employers offer severance packages mainly to get you to sign away your rights. That's leverage. You should use it, as I said before. If you're in Connecticut or New York, something feels off, call us or visit capclaw.com. We've seen every trick in the book. Subscribe to our website or get our newsletters, tell a co employee about it, share the employee survival guide with your friends. Until next time, have a great week.