Are you involved in a legal dispute, and are you looking for a Ft. Lauderdale employment attorney? If you have any of an assortment of legal concerns pertaining to your employment, an employment lawyer may be able to help you traverse your situation. Employment attorney’s represent clients in a number of situations, including contract issues, job terminations, harassment, and discrimination. Both employers and staff members care about these issues, and a great employment attorney can tackle multiple problems, sometimes representing both employers and employees in particular cases.
Sexual harassment regulation defends workers of both genders from prolonged, undesirable abuse based on gender. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 sets up a structure of protected classes, including gender, and these protections are further outlined in the regulations of the State of Florida. It doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual in nature, either, as long as the behavior is based on the target’s sex.
To a big degree, sexual harassment is treated as a kind of outlawed job discrimination. The regulation also safeguards citizens from discrimination due to their gender, ethnicity, age, physical condition, family, health, or military status. Some forms of discrimination are not protected under the statute, because the affected individuals are not seen as a protected class for the functions of law.
There are specified statutes to prevent the discrimination against people based on age for the functions of employment selection and continued service. Other specific regulations fight discrimination based on nationality, religion, sex, or ethnicity, both at the federal and State levels. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act both safeguard handicapped individuals, while Florida law safeguards employees with HIV\/AIDS. Florida statute provides some additional anti-discrimination protections beyond those provided by federal statute. For instance, in Florida employers can’t discriminate on the basis of marital status. A Ft. Lauderdale employment attorney can be useful in ascertaining which statutes apply to your circumstances
An individual claiming unlawful work place discrimination is first required to file a formal complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These agencies have different filing deadlines and bureaucratic procedures, something a Ft. Lauderdale employment attorney will be able to aid you through. Once the relevant agency wraps up its investigation, assuming it finds information of illegal discrimination, you have two choices: You could either pursue the issue further with that agency or you could file suit in civil court. While the agencies may be able to settle your case to your full satisfaction – through re-hiring, back pay, or the payment of damages – the courts can provide you a chance at higher settlement depending on the severity of your circumstances.
Another less regularly required function of an employment law firm is in circumstanceses of contract breach. This is due to the fact that the lion’s share of workers are employed at will, with no obligation to remain on for any reason, and no responsibility on the part of the employer to maintain their employment (except for reasons of a legally protected nature). In circumstances where there is some supposed breach of contract, it is commonly because the employee feels that their duties were eliminated for a reason not characterized by cause, or under the pretense of cause related to some protected class issue. If you do work under contract, and you feel that contract has been breached, it’s leading to work with a Ft. Lauderdale employment attorney in tackling your legal questions.
Another more common source of breach problems comes in the form of non-competition agreements, in which companies have some right to prevent a former worker from moving on to a rivaling business interest. While these may seem unfair, the law does recognize the right of an individual to make a living, and in many cases will “blue-line” unfair or unenforceable, vague contracts. Still, non-compete clauses produce thorny problems and can make life very complicated for a newly jobless staff member. A Ft. Lauderdale employee looking for work but faced with the terms of a non-compete clause should confer with an employment law firm in Ft. Lauderdale.
Employment law is an area of law in which a qualified opinion is frequently warranted. A quality Ft. Lauderdale employment lawyer has that expertise and the skill necessary to understand a complicated maze of law and bureaucracy.