The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the body of laws that serves to establish work standards that make the workplace a little fairer, by protecting workers from exploitation by their employers. The FLSA contains provisions regarding the minimum wage, overtime compensation and even whistleblower protection. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division enforces provisions of the FLSA for most private and public workers.

Under the FLSA, any employee may initiate or participate in any action against his/her employer for what he/she feels may be a violation of workplace standards, including wage and hour laws, occupational safety and health laws, and even discrimination or harassment rules on the basis of a protected class, with the expectation that his/her actions will be protected from retaliation by his/her employer. The protected activities include filing a complaint with an appropriate law enforcement body, speaking to an attorney, answering an investigator’s questions, testifying in a proceeding, or filing a lawsuit. Employees are not only protected in cases involving formal complaints filed with a government agency, they are protected whether the complaint is oral or written, and even if the complaint is internal.

Unlawful retaliation claims become actionable whenever an employee participates in a protected activity, and the employer commits an adverse action against the employee. Adverse actions that can be classified as retaliation are not limited to termination; they can also include demotion, reduced hours, or disciplinary action that exceeds that given to other employees. Such actions can also include false performance appraisals, moving the employee from a nice office to a closet, denying administrative support services, or denying the employee the best assignments.

According to the FLSA, any employee who is “discharged or in any other manner discriminated against” as a result of expressing a concern or filing a complaint against their employer may file a retaliation complaint with the Wage and Hour Division, or they may file a lawsuit. The appropriate remedies can include reinstatement of employment, lost wages and any other damages, as deemed appropriate.

Because it’s relatively rare for an employer to admit to retaliation, the employee will have to be able to prove a connection between the protected conduct and the adverse action taken by the employer. This makes a skilled employment lawyer a necessity. Such a connection can often be proven through evidence that the treatment you received was exceptional, and out of line with the employer’s usual treatment of other employees, and that it happened right after or shortly the protection action you took. You may also be able to establish a pattern of retaliatory actions against other employees who complain, or even show that the employer’s stated reason for the adverse action was completely false.

Any employee who even suspects that his/her employment rights have been violated, or that his/her employer’s treatment of him/her smacks of retaliatory action should call a skilled employment attorney immediately, in order to protect his/her rights under the law.

References

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/hrg.htm#.UPBZYoWcr8A >

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs77a.htm

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