Battles between employees and employers are never pleasant experiences. This is particularly the case when courts and lawyers enter the scenario as legal conflicts only extend the anguish for both parties.
Yet there are certain rights and responsibilities that have to be respected and recognised in the workplace. Should an employee seek legal representation and consult their lawyer about a case that needs further examination, there can be grounds to file a lawsuit against an employer.
Here is an example of some of the those events when an employee takes an employer on from a legal standpoint.
Instances of Mistreatment
When an employee feels as though they have been mistreated by those who are employing them, there can be grounds to sue in a court of law. From pay checks that are consistently late or bounced to employers that isolate members in the workforce, these are times when violations are taking place and they can file a lawsuit against them.
Moments of Temporal Proximity
There are events that happen so close together that they cannot be considered a coincidence. This is evident when an employee makes a formal complaint to the human relations department against a boss or higher ranking fellow employee and only moments later, they are fired from their contract. This is what is classified as temporal proximity and labeled as a form of discrimination with no genuine grounds to sack the employee based on any conduct that was filed beforehand.
Terminated Following Long Term of Service
An employee who has been fired after 10 years plus of service should have some basic requirements that include a thorough explanation. From long service leave time to holiday pay, overtime pay or a redundancy package should that be the case, an employee sacked on the spot following an extended period could have grounds to file a lawsuit.
Violation of Workplace Laws
Should there be cases of workplace harassment, bullying or discrimination where an employee has acted through the right channels and no action has been taken, they have grounds to sue. A contract will carry certain stipulations that protect the rights of the worker in these cases and it is the responsibility of the employer to follow through on due diligence and conduct themselves in the right way. If the employee can prove in a court of law that those processes were not adhered to, then they can take proactive steps to sue.
