When losing your job, immediately signing a severance agreement may feel like a good idea. The dreaded moment has arrived: you find yourself sitting across the table from your Human Resources manager, and they have just informed you that you no longer have a job. You feel sick to your stomach as questions race through your mind: “Are my savings ready for unemployment? How am I going to get health insurance? Why is this happening to me?” As … [Read more...]
COVID is here to stay: know your rights if it stays with you.
As COVID variants have cycled through the population, it has become clear that COVID is here to stay. What is less clear is how lingering symptoms of these variants, also known as “Long COVID” or “Post-COVID Conditions” will impact the health of those who have contracted these symptoms. ADA Protects Long COVID Employees Given the presence of Long COVID, employees must understand their rights so they are empowered to face their employers if … [Read more...]
Your Right to Rest and Refuel
Wherever you are working, whether at home or in person, your employer must grant you rest periods and meal breaks based on the number of hours you are expected to work in a shift. While the timing of when these breaks are utilized is negotiable, your right to take time for yourself is not. The mandated rules regarding employee meals and breaks are governed by the following statutes. Please note, if you are subject to a collective bargaining … [Read more...]
5 Surprising Ways Disability Discrimination Occurs in the Workplace
A prevalent aspect of discrimination is that it can be invisible to the people who do not experience it. In cases where discrimination is not overt, it can be especially difficult to convince others of its existence. Non-direct discrimination, which can often be unintentional, consistently targets people with disabilities, as those without disabilities take for granted privileges and accessibility that do not actually exist for various classes … [Read more...]
Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Family Leave Tax Credits Under the American Rescue Plan Act
The American Rescue Plan Act allows employers to voluntarily extend emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to employees and receive tax credits through Sept. 30. While employers are not required to provide this type of leave, this tax credit will provide a benefit to employers who do so. EPSLA Guidelines Under the EPSLA, … [Read more...]
