The basic relationships between employees and employers have changed in many places throughout America this year, including in Oregon. Millions of people are working remotely, while others may have lost their jobs altogether. Going forward, our readers need to know that even if their traditional work experience has changed in the last year, their basic employee rights have not.
Basic employee rights
One of the basic tenets of employee rights is that all employees are entitled to a safe work environment. Such an environment can be attacked in many different ways. For starters, the physical safety of employees may be threatened on the job, by the presence of unreasonable dangers, for example. However, another common situation that can jeopardize a safe work environment is when there is harassment present at work. Sexual harassment, for example, obviously would lead many employees to feel that their workplace is not safe.
On a broader scale, there are certain federal laws that guarantee rights for employees, including, for example, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act, commonly known as the ADA and FMLA, respectively. When the actions of an employer threaten employee rights that are guaranteed by these types of laws, the relationship between employees and employers may fracture.
Addressing hardships brought about by employers
At our law firm, we work with Oregon residents who are experiencing hardship brought about by their employers, and which may lead to the need to assert legal rights. For more information about how we attempt to help Oregon residents with these matters, please visit the employee legal protections overview section of our law firm’s website.