Fired Employees Do You Know Your Rights?
As an attorney who practices employment law in both Massachusetts and the
Federal system, it strikes me as odd, how few rights employees realize they actually
have in the work place. Even more suppressing is the rights that terminated employees
have which they are not aware. I make it a point to discuss with every potential client
some basic rights and steps they should take, whether they retain my services or not,
whether I take their case or not. Employees who were either terminated or simply quit
should understand that they have a right to know everything their employers have said
and written about them during their employment and even their application process.In
Massachusetts, every employee has the right under Massachusetts General Laws,
chapter 149, section 52C to receive a complete copy of the employee's personal file.
This file may contain information from their job application, every annual review, and
any complaints against that employee.
Why is this so important? If you were terminated, or left as a result of conduct the
employer took, you will want to seek unemployment benefits. Many times you are
denied those benefits based on something the employer said to the government. You
are also granted an automatic hearing if you are denied. In that hearing, you can
question the veracity of those comments the employer made, if their were no
documents in your personal file to cooperate the story. This is a form of discovery that
you do not need a lawyer to request.
The state of Massachusetts takes this rule so seriously that if the employer does not
send you your personnel file with in 5 days of receipt of your request, may result in a
criminal prosecutions a fine of $500 - $2,500 dollars. More over, if an employer fails to
comply with the request, they are going to face the attorney general, where the
employee will not be footing the bill.
The above is just one such circumstance where there are critical rights that many
employees and terminated employees, should but just don't know they have.
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