What You Need to Know About Common Illegal Employment Practices
Federal employment law was established to ensure that all working employees are entitled to the same general legal protections. Here’s everything you need to know about 10 common but illegal employment practices.
Various states can include additional laws but here are 10 of the common illegal employment practices.
1. Discrimination
Under federal law, it is prohibited for employers to discriminate against employees based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy when considering employment and in all other employment circumstances. Employees who fall under these categories are considered to be part of a protected class.
Any form of discrimination against employment of individuals in a protected class is illegal and unfair employment practices. This law also protects individuals above the age of 40 facing discrimination regarding their age.
2. Employee Leave
While there is no federal law requiring employers to provide paid time off/leave of absence, there are protections for employees to take unpaid time off for emergencies while protecting their position and benefits.
Related: Employee Theft: Penalties & Possible Defenses
These protections fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off to employees who fulfill the eligibility requirements in the duration of their employment period. This act is meant to protect the employee’s position and benefits if they are on leave. The employee qualifies for FMLA leave if they are:
- Suffering from a serious health condition that prevents them from performing their job;
- Caring for a seriously ill family member;
- Pregnant and are needed to care for the newborn child;
- Caring for a newly adopted child or placed foster child;
- Handling matters due to a family member’s military service.
An employee may be allowed up to 26 weeks of leave under the condition that they are caring for a family member’s injury resulting from military service.
It is illegal to deny an employee unpaid time off regarding the aforementioned reasons. Additionally, if certain employees are entitled to benefits or advantages such as paid time off while others are not, it may be illegal employment practices if the reason is due to any form of discrimination.
3. Overtime
There is no federally established law that limits the number of hours an adult employee may work. However, for each hour of overtime, employers are required to pay their employees 1.5x the rate of their regular hourly rate. Failure to comply results in illegal employment practices as labor laws mandate that all overtime hours be fairly compensated.
4. Retaliation
Employees are protected from any retaliation against their position or terms of employment if they reported cases of discrimination or harassment in the workplace. This is also known as whistleblower laws. An employee may not be fired or suspended if they report an incident that occurred in the workplace.
5. Wrongful Termination/Forced Resignation
Typically, requirements or circumstances for termination of employment will be established in the employment contract. However, employee termination becomes illegal if the termination is caused by discrimination against the employee.
It is also illegal for employers to essentially force an employee to resign. This can be accomplished through creating a toxic and intolerable working environment that causes any reasonable person to leave the place of employment.
6. Reasonable Accommodations: Disabilities
Federal law under the Americans with Disabilities Act requires all employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with a disability. These accommodations may be slight changes to the work schedule, sanctioned breaks and necessary time off, or other modifications to the workplace or employee schedule to accommodate a disability. This can also be any physical changes to the workplace such as installing an accessible ramp or providing translators.
Related: Can an Employer Sue an Employee for Poor Performance?
7. Reasonable Accommodations: Religion
Employers are required to provide necessary time off or accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices. This can look like allowing an employee to change shifts to observe any religious services.
8. Unfair Promotions or Job Assignments
While choosing one employee over the over for an assignment or a promotion is not illegal, it becomes illegal if the reason behind the choice is discriminatory. No employee may be passed over for a job assignment or promotion under the basis of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other identifying trait.
9. Workers’ Compensation Retaliation
Workers’ compensation is the money given to an employee for the care, rehabilitation, and medical expenses of an injury or illness caused by a place of employment. It is a federal law that ensures the employee recover any financial damages caused by the physical damage they endured. Any retaliation against an employee seeing workers’ compensation is strictly prohibited and considered an illegal act.
10. Preference in Job Advertisements
If an employer lists a job advertisement that may discourage certain individuals from various identity classes from applying for the position, it is considered an illegal employment practice. Publishing specific words such as “males only” or “recent college graduates” would discourage individuals not identifying in those groups from applying for the position, making it discriminatory and violating the law.
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