Knowing our rights is the first step towards ensuring our dignity and security at work. So what can we do when we know our rights are being violated? There are many choices, here are four of the most common: 1) Submit, 2) Quit, 3) Report or 4) Stand Up.
Our bosses often pressure us to submit to their legal violations. Often they encourage us to be “team players”, not “cause trouble”, and “understand how hard it is to run a business” and that they are “doing their best”. Because knowing employment law is not required for new business owners, your boss may not even know they are breaking the law. When we submit to these violations, we are neglecting our responsibility to those who came before us who ensured we have rights at work, to our coworkers whose rights are also being violated, and to all fellow workers who fill our shoes once we’re gone.
Another choice is to quit. When we refuse to submit to violations and display any hint of displeasure, our bosses often pressure us with, “Well, if you don’t like it, you can just quit!”. As individuals we feel singled out, may decide it’s not worth it, and quit. And, while we may feel that we’ve “stuck it to the boss” and proved our dignity, the boss is now free to rehire until they find someone who will submit. While it feels better to quit rather than submit, the result is the same: our rights have not been defended and the rights of the workers that remain behind and follow after us continue to be violated. If we are never willing to stand up when our rights are challenged, and continue to quit, we will never acquire the benefits of job security. When we don’t hold bosses up to legal standards, we give them an unfair business advantage over those employers who follow the law.
The Department of Labor, BOLI and other regulatory agencies are responsible for enforcing the law regarding employers. However, often the penalties that follow after we report violations to these agencies are slow to arrive, equate to a slap on the wrist, and are ineffective deterrents. Another option to report violations is to get a lawyer and file a lawsuit. A lawsuit may retroactively compensate workers for past violations, but often does little to prevent future violations. When done alone, these reports are ineffective.
By working together with our co-workers, we can stop and even prevent violations to our rights. Our bosses like us to believe that our problems are only personal. Are all of our problems personal? If our employer is breaking the law and we’re the only one who knows it, then does that mean it’s legal? Not at all. When our rights are challenged, our best option as workers is to stand up to those challenges together. In a broader sense, as workers in the same industry with experiences we all share, by standing up and acting together, we can address the concerns that effect us all. We can not stomach submitting, we can only quit so many times, and reports only do so much. We must stand up when our rights are violated.
