In California most workers without a contract are considered "AT WILL" employee's, which means under the California Labor code, you can quit anytime you want to with or without just cause, or your boss can terminate you anytime he wants to without just cause.
I've been on my Job for 3 years and I came into work yesterday and my boss let me go, can he just do that for no good reason?
Without any other facts, a simple answer is YES.
But....Many times discussing your termination with a trained employment lawyer may reveal that your employer perhaps had a "hidden agenda" and your termination was "pretextual" and in fact was hiding perhaps an illegal reason in terminating your employment.
I was injured on the job and filed a claim for workers compensation. When I went back to work I was terminated. Can he do that?
No, under labor code section 132(a) the employer can be fined up to $10,000.00 for terminating an employee for filing a workers compensation claim.
I am a member of the Retail Clerks Union and have been on my job for 8 years. I have been having a problem at work and I think I am going to get fired, can you help me?
By joining the union you have as part of your agreement with your employer agreed to be bound by the terms of the union contract and therefore subject to the collective bargaining agreement which allows the union to act as your sole grievance forum. A private attorney can generally only become involved when such time as the union has given up the fight with the employer on your behalf.
I was fired from my last job and am having a difficult time finding another job, I think my former employer is saying untrue things about me, can you help me?
Always be truthful when filling out an employment application. Never leave out an employer no matter what the circumstances were in leaving that job. It is always better to list them rather then "forget" to put them down.
All any former employer will ever voluntarily disclose about your employment is the period of time you worked there, the rate of pay, and the type of work you performed. Almost anything said that would be of a derogatory nature could subject them to a law suit for defamation.
In your job application under reasons for leaving, you can generally put something generic and still be within the bounds of honesty, for example, personality differences, professional differences of opinion etc.
My boss has been picking on me for everything I do. He micro critiques all of my work and finds fault with everything I do. He makes me so nervous all the time I want to file a lawsuit against him for harassment.
Though the attitude at work seems to be harassing and may have created a hostile work environment for you, it is not the kind of harassment that the law will provide a remedy for you. Your best solution is to find another job while you still have one.
"Hostile Work Environment" is one of two forms of Sexual Harassment that the law provides a remedy for. This form is more subtle then the obvious type of sexual harassment known as Quid Pro Quo which translated from latin means " This for That". If you go to bed with me I will give you the promotion you have been wanting.
Under the Hostile work environment type of sexual harassment comes the "dirty jokes", obscene gestures, offensive humor type of conduct that someone finds offensive and has asked that it not be done in the work place.
I'm being discriminated against at work. Other people are allowed to come back late from lunch or breaks and when I do, I get written up. When I ask for a certain day off I am always told no and the other people at work always get the days off that they ask for. What can I do about it?
Unless you are a member of a group that the government has classified by statute as a protected classification ex. race, religion, gender, age, national origin, etc. the "discrimination" you allude to is nothing more then a personal bias that the law will not be concerned with unless your rights are effected by being within the protected groups enumerated above and the adverse conditions handed you are because of your being a member of the particular group.
I have just been terminated from my job and human resources has asked me to sign a release In order to give me my severance pay. I refused to sign the paper because I was afraid I might be giving up some of my rights, I wasn't sure. What should I do now?
When you are to be terminated from your job your employer is obligated by law to pay you in full for all monies owed to you that you have earned or are entitled to. Many times severance pay is a bonus that an employer pays you to ease the pain of being terminated and to help you till you can find another job. Many times you will be asked to sign a document though that you have received this severance pay in exchange for your promise not to assert any claims (file a lawsuit ), in the future against your former employer.
If you are faced with that decision generally speaking human resources will allow you a few days to show it to an advisor. It is wise to have this type of document reviewed if you have the slightest possibility of filing a lawsuit for Wrongful Termination or some other type of action against your former employer. If you are over 40 years old, by statute you have 21 days from the time you signed the release to cancel it with your employer.
I heard that lawyers take contingency cases whereby you only get paid if I win?
Many times in personal injury cases especially a lawyer will take a case on a pure contingency basis, whereby he may advance the costs of filing the lawsuit and arranging for medical treatment on a lien basis etc. The attorney can do this in many instances because the law is very clear as to right and wrong (liability) in this area of the law. An attorney can in many instances read a police report or witnesses statements and know almost immediately what the liability and value of the case is. Not true in employment law cases.
Employment law cases, ie. Wrongful termination, Sexual harassment, and discrimination do not tend to settle out of court early on before large sums of money and time is spent on discovery of the facts by both sides. Discovery being the most expensive and time consuming part of the lawsuit for both sides.
The mental state of the Plaintiff who wants "Justice" which sometimes translates into "revenge" and the Defendant employer who wants to protect his name and reputation and feels he has done nothing wrong to warrant being sued.
Since liability is never clear on this type of case until the proper amount of discovery is done it is much harder to handle on a pure contingency basis. The typical situation would involve the client putting up some front money in the area of $ 5,000.00 or so to begin the case. This money is placed generally in the Attorney's Client Trust account and is used to pay the costs associated with the clients case, not the attorney's time charges. The attorney will generally be paid 1/3 if the case settles before arbitration or the pretrial conference and 40% if the case settles after or goes to trial. Though fees are always negotiable this arrangement is fairly typical.