There are many laws that protect workers rights, including both federal and state laws. Some of the federal laws that protect workers nationwide, including in the state of California, are:

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Wage and hour laws
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
• Title VII on workplace discrimination
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
• Whistleblower and retaliation laws
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

California has also passed its owns laws to help further protect employees. Some notable California state laws concerning the protection of employees rights include the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits employment discrimination based on race or color; religion; national origin or ancestry, physical disability; mental disability or medical condition; marital status; sex or sexual orientation; age, with respect to persons over the age of 40; and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

The FEHA also prohibits retaliation against anyone for opposing any practice forbidden by the Act or for filing a complaint, testifying, or assisting in proceedings under the FEHA. A 1978 amendment to the act requires employers to provide an unpaid job-protected leave to employees that were disabled by pregnancy (also known as “pregnancy disability leave”) for up to four months.

The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid, or unpaid, job-protected leave during a 12 month period. During their leave time, employees are entitled to the same employer paid health benefits as when they were working. Employees may take this leave for the birth of a child or adoption or foster care placement, to care for an immediate family member that has a serious health condition, or when the employee is unable to work due to a serious health condition.

In general, California is a very employee friendly state. However, that doesn’t mean that employers are always aware of or follow the law. When workers rights are legally violated, Rastegar Law Group is here to help. If you need a San Diego or Los Angeles employment law attorney, contact us today for a free and confidential case evaluation.

1. Make sure that the attorney or law firm focuses solely on employment law. Employment law is a very specialized field, especially in large cities like San Diego and Los Angeles, and your attorney simply will not be an expert if they are not focusing solely on this field. We’d recommend avoiding employment attorneys that also work in fields like personal injury or family law. Those also are complicated legal fields where you would want legal representation that’s an expert, not someone who dabbles across a wide range of legal practice areas.
2. Some practice areas that a good employment attorney or firm will operate in includes equal pay, civil rights at work, discrimination in the workplace, wrongful termination, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment at work, wage and hour disputes, and retaliation laws in the workplace.
3. Select an employment attorney or labor law firm that is experienced. It takes time to become a true expert in employment law and you’ll want to avoid attorneys either straight out of law school or attorneys who have recently switched to the field. The San Diego and Los Angeles labor law attorneys at Rastegar Law Group have over 100 years of combined experience in the field.
4. Choose a San Diego or Los Angeles employment attorney or law firm that is accomplished in the field. Do some online digging to check the law firm’s rating on Google and Yelp, as well as legal directory sites like Super Lawyers and Avvo. The labor attorneys profile page on their website should indicate their bar associations and any other groups that they belong to such as the California Lawyers Association (CLA).

If you need further information regarding how to select an attorney, The California State Bar has put together a resource to help: Finding the Right Lawyer.

If you are in need of an employment attorney, contact Rastegar Law Group today for a free and confidential consultation. We work on a contingency basis, meaning we charge no fee until and unless we recover for you. You can contact us online or call us at (310) 961-9600.