Riverside Employment Lawyer

Riverside Employment Law Attorney

As a California employer, every employer in Riverside and throughout Riverside County must follow several employment laws enforced at the state and federal levels. When employers violate these laws or fail to protect the rights of their employees, it can form grounds for legal action. If you have been subjected to any harm from an employer, a Riverside County employment attorney can help you understand your options for legal recourse.

Experienced Legal Counsel for Riverside Employees

The attorneys at Hennig Kramer LLP, have extensive professional experience representing employees of all industries in Riverside County, and we can apply this experience to your impending case.

If you believe your employer has violated federal or state employment laws, or if your employer has failed to properly address mistreatment you have experienced in your workplace, we can help hold your employer accountable.

Our firm excels at resolving complex employment suits, and we are capable of providing comprehensive legal support for a wide range of employment cases.

When you choose our firm as your legal advocate, you can expect close communication with our team, responsive updates concerning the progress of your claim, and clear explanations of what to expect from each new phase of your case.

Having the right attorney on your side can make every aspect of an employment case easier to handle. Whether you need to interact with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at the federal level, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), or a combination of multiple government agencies to resolve your case, we can help. The sooner you reach out to our firm, the more time we can have to compile your claim.

Types of Employment Cases Our Firm Handles in Riverside County

If you are searching for a Riverside County employment attorney to represent you, it is vital to find a legal representative with proven experience successfully handling cases similar to yours. At Hennig Kramer LLP, our firm provides comprehensive legal representation for various types of employment cases.

Sexual Harassment

Every employee, regardless of industry, has the right to a workplace free of sexual harassment. Still, workplace sexual harassment continues to be a pervasive issue throughout all industries in the United States.

Unfortunately, many people who experience sexual harassment at work are not fully aware of their rights as employees and their options for legal recourse when they are subjected to sexual harassment or are afraid to take legal action out of fear of losing their jobs.

If you have experienced unwanted touching, groping, sexual commentary, or quid pro quo sexual harassment, these experiences are valid grounds to file a sexual harassment complaint with a government agency or in court.

An experienced Riverside County employment attorney can guide you through this claim filing process and help determine the scope of damages you can seek from the party who harassed you.

If an employer fails to create and/or uphold an anti-sexual harassment policy at work, and internal conflict resolution channels have failed to resolve your issue, the attorneys at Hennig Kramer LLP, can assist you in holding your employer accountable. Your employer may not only be liable for damages but may also face legal penalties, including heavy fines.

If your experience included any type of physical contact, the harasser may also prosecution for sexual assault. This can open the door for a separate civil suit for damages against the abuser. Your attorney can explain the various damages you can seek in a sexual harassment claim and determine which parties are responsible for these damages.

Employment Discrimination

It is unlawful for any employer in Riverside County to make job-related decisions on the basis of an employee’s personal qualities, such as race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or disability. If you believe an employer or potential employer has discriminated against you at work or during the application or hiring process, it can form the foundation of an EEOC complaint.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcement of US workplace discrimination laws, and you will need to file a claim to the EEOC before you can proceed with a civil suit for unlawful discrimination of any kind. Your Riverside County employment attorney can help you file this claim and take the next steps after the EEOC approves it.

Many employment discrimination cases pertain to lost wages and benefits or an employee losing the chance to advance their career. Some discrimination cases involve hostile work environments created by adverse mistreatment from employers and wrongful termination.

Your Riverside County employment lawyer can guide you through the process of ensuring accountability and securing compensation for the damages you have suffered from discrimination at work.

Whistleblower Claims

A whistleblower is anyone who reports unlawful activity to the appropriate authorities. For example, an employee may report their employer to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for workplace safety violations that pose a threat to workers but that the employer has failed to correct.

Filing a whistleblower report in good faith is a legally protected action. The report must be filed out of genuine concern and without the intention of seeking any reward. The attorneys at Hennig Kramer LLP, have helped many whistleblowers assert their rights and resolve unlawful reprisals they have suffered from their employers.

Employer Retaliation

Whenever an employee engages in a legally protected action, such as filing a claim for workers’ compensation after an injury at work, acting as a whistleblower in good faith, or filing a sexual harassment claim, an employer may not take punitive actions against that employee.

Doing so is considered employer retaliation. Retaliation may take the form of firing, demotion, transfer, change of job duties, or other adverse actions.

If you believe an employer in Riverside County has unlawfully retaliated against you in response to your legally protected action, an experienced employment attorney can help you explore your options for legal recourse.

Many employer retaliation cases may also relate to wrongful termination, discrimination, and violations of both state and federal employment laws, so these complex cases require the attention of experienced legal counsel.

Wrongful Termination

Most employment in the state operates on an at-will basis, meaning both an employer and employee have the right to end their working relationship at any time, with or without providing advance notice or a specific reason.

While at-will employment aims to prevent employees from becoming trapped in jobs they no longer want, the reality is that employers have broad leeway to fire employees as they see fit. They may not, however, fire employees for illegal reasons.

A wrongful termination occurs whenever an employer fires an employee for a discriminatory reason. For example, an employer may fire an employee on the basis of the employee’s whistleblower report, the employee’s filing of a sexual harassment complaint, or simply on the basis of the employee’s race, sex, or other protected personal qualities.

Proving wrongful termination can be very difficult, but a seasoned Riverside County employment attorney can help a client gather the evidence needed. You may need to obtain copies of internal correspondence between you and your employer, performance reports proving you did your job well, statements from other employees and past employees, and witness statements from anyone who may have overheard your employer’s true intentions for firing you.

Wage and Hour Disputes

California enforces strict wage and hour laws pertaining to employee compensation. It’s possible for a wage and hour dispute to arise whenever an employer fails to properly compensate its employees or if it intentionally violates state or federal wage and hour laws. Commonly filed wage and hour disputes in Riverside County include:

• Unpaid or incorrectly paid overtime.
• Unlawful deductions taken from employee paychecks.
• Failure to provide accurate paystubs.
• Failure to meet state minimum wage.
• Rest and meal break violations.
• Violations of state prevailing wage laws for specific employee groups.

If your employer has failed to correct issues with your pay, or if you believe it has intentionally paid you incorrectly, a Riverside County employment attorney can help calculate the money the employer owes and guide you through the legal process of collecting it from your employer.

What Are My Employee Rights?

Regardless of the industry in which you work, you have various rights as an employee in the state and the right to seek legal recourse when these rights are violated:

• You have the right to a safe and healthy work environment. Your employer is required to maintain anti-harassment policies and adhere to the regulations set forth by the EEOC to ensure a fair work environment for all employees. Your employer is also subject to specific regulations concerning the physical safety of their employees.
• You have the right to take protected legal actions without punishment. If you are compelled to file a whistleblower report or a sexual harassment claim or to engage in any other legally protected action in good faith, your employer may not punish you for these actions.
• You have the right to rest and meal breaks. Employers are required to provide rest and meal breaks to all employees based on their work schedules. There are specific rules for paid and unpaid breaks, as well as how long an employee may continue working without a break.
• You have the right to proper pay and overtime pay when applicable. The state enforces strict rules for overtime pay and upholds one of the highest minimum wage requirements in the country. If an employer violates these rules, you have the right to seek full repayment of all wages your employer owes.
• You have the right to benefits if you are injured or become ill from your work. California law requires almost every employer to have workers’ compensation insurance, and if you suffer an injury or become ill from your work, you have the right to file a claim for medical expense and income replacement benefits through your employer’s insurance carrier.

After an employer has violated your rights in Riverside County, the thought of pursuing legal action may be daunting, especially if the employer is a large company with its own legal department.

However, asserting your rights can not only help recover compensation for losses you have suffered but also potentially prevent others from facing similar problems in the future.

Potential Damages in an Employment Case in Riverside County

Whenever any employer violates the rights of its employee, it may result in various economic losses for the victim, such as lost wages, lost benefits, or lost opportunities for promotion. Employees may have also been forced to work through breaks or have otherwise been unfairly compensated.

Your Riverside County employment attorney can be an invaluable asset for determining the full scope of economic damages you can seek from your employer.

In addition to the direct financial losses you sustained, you also have the right to seek compensation for pain and suffering. For example, if you were subjected to sexual harassment at work, it may have caused not only physical pain and discomfort but also substantial emotional distress.

If you have been subjected to a hostile work environment, your attorney can help maximize the compensation you receive for your non-economic damages.

Employers in Riverside County who violate state and/or federal employment laws are often fined based on their number of employees. It is also possible for an employer to owe an employee or former employee punitive damages, the amount of which is determined by the judge handling the case. Other forms of compensation may also come into play in your case, depending on the type of claim you are filing.

What to Expect From Your Riverside Employment Attorney

When you hire Hennig Kramer LLP as your legal counsel, we will only collect attorneys’ fees if and when we win your case. Some claimants will be eligible to seek compensation for their legal expenses from defendants, reducing the cost of bringing their claims.

Our firm is ready to provide comprehensive support through every stage of your case, and the sooner you connect with our team, the more time we will have to prepare your claim.

Contact Hennig Kramer LLP, today and schedule your free consultation with a Riverside County employment attorney you can trust with your case.