Your boss will always have the upper hand in the workplace, and many try to exploit this, but they’re not untouchable. Whether they’re trying to stop you from talking or they’re withholding your hard-earned money, here are 17 things your boss may try to do that you shouldn’t let fly.
Ask You Illegal Questions During Interviews
Firstly, the law prohibits your boss from asking overly personal or discriminatory questions during an interview. This includes some questions about your citizenship, race, sex, marital status, children, religion, disability status, and more. Remember, you have the right to keep that information to yourself!
Pay Less Than the Minimum Wage
Unless you’re a full-time student, under the age of 20, a tipped employee, or a student, any pay below the minimum wage is outright illegal. Since 2009, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) stipulates that every private-sector business is required to pay workers at least $7.25 per hour.
Make You Sign Broad Non-Compete Agreements
As a worker with excellent skills, your boss may try to prevent your talent from getting into the hands of competitors through non-compete agreements. However, these are illegal in California, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, and certain other states have limited the extent to which they may apply, as Reuters points out.
Ignore Hostile Work Behaviors
Whether your colleague is being racist, rude, or just plain insulting towards you, your employer is required by federal and state laws to tackle this hostility. If they’re ignoring your requests, it’s time to get someone higher up involved, as that’s illegal.
Illegally Pay Less Than Others
Your boss reserves the right to pay employees different wages as long as there’s a reason, but this can’t just be because of discrimination. It’s illegal to pay you differently from someone else just because of your gender or race, as this simply is not fair.
Sanction You for Talking About Salaries
It’s almost impossible not to discuss what you earn with your coworkers, but some bosses may try to curb such discussions. However, the NLRB states that this is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. It’s your right to discuss wages and labor conditions, and you should be suspicious of anyone who says otherwise.
Punish You for Talking About Work Conditions in Public
What if you go on a social media rant about how controlling your manager is? While not very professional, your boss is not allowed to sanction you for this. You also enjoy protection under the NLRA—the freedom to talk about work conditions in public.
Fire You For Not Engaging in Law-Breaking Activities
This might sound obvious, but your boss can never fire you for refusing to engage in criminal activities–simple. In the event this happens, you’re entitled to sue for wrongful termination. For instance, you could never be legally fired for refusing to get involved in fraud or money laundering.
Retaliate to Whistleblowing
When you go the extra step to report something sketchy, your boss can’t take adverse action against you. Retaliation, such as verbal harassment, denying you benefits, or firing you, would be completely illegal in these circumstances, and you’d be entitled to whistleblower retaliation claims.
Make You Work Overtime, Unpaid
Your boss can’t force you to work overtime, defined as anything above 40 hours per week for a full-time role. If they insist you work overtime, they have to pay you 1.5 times your wage for the overworked hours, according to the Department of Labor.
Make You Work Off the Clock
Some bosses will also try to get you to do extra work, such as research, attending meetings, or answering phone calls. That’s totally fine, but like overtime, you’re also legally entitled to be paid for this, and any refusal from your boss should be reported.
Hiring You as an Independent but Treating You Like an Employee
Your boss might sometimes hire talent on independent contracts to avoid employment paperwork, and this is fine, but not when freelancers are treated like employees. If your boss hires a contractor, they can only dictate the quality of the contractor’s work, but not how or when they’re achieved.
Share Medical Information
Sometimes, employers need medical information to assess your fitness for work and provide you with health solutions when needed. What they can’t do, however, is share this confidential, sensitive information with others, even your coworkers, without your consent. That would be illegal and a serious privacy risk.
Illegally Withhold Your Pay
Your boss can withhold part of your pay or deduct from it, but only for legitimate reasons, such as if you are late to work, didn’t attend work due to strikes, or agreed to deductions. However, when none of these reasons are present, you’re entitled to your full pay, and that’s that.
Papering Your File
If you were to be fired by your boss, you may be qualified for compensation unless you have engaged in misconduct. To avoid paying this compensation, some sneaky employers ‘paper’ your files, meaning to fill them with false cases of misconduct, which is illegal. If you suspect your boss of file papering, report them.
Age Discrimination
Treating someone differently or paying them less due to their age is a direct violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. However, age discrimination is surprisingly common, with a survey by Harvard Business Review revealing that 65% of workers have experienced it at least once!
Refuse Promotion Based on Gender
Finally, your boss is never allowed to deny someone a deserved promotion based on their gender or sexual orientation. This protection extends to other protected categories, like religion, race, and color, and when you notice a hint of this, you need to get yourself a lawyer immediately.
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