Employment Law Attorneys in Metairie, Louisiana

As an employee, you want a reasonable amount of assurance that when you go to work every day, you’ll be treated fairly and with respect. You want to know that you’ll be in a safe environment. So when any of these expectations are not met—such as an employee facing discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, or injury due to unsafe conditions—this employee may need to take steps to address this and pursue compensation or other remedies. Thankfully, the state of Louisiana and the U.S. government have numerous laws and protections for employees.

If you’d like to speak with an employment law attorney and are in the Metairie, Louisiana area, including Chalmette, New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, and St. Tammany Parish, reach out to us at Law Office of Bruce C. Betzer.   

Wage and Hour Laws

Both the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the state of Louisiana have put into place wage and hour laws that set standards for how much workers need to be paid and how many hours they can work. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes rules for minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor. 
 

• Minimum wage: Currently, the federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 an hour for most workers, though some workers under the age of 20 may be paid a minimum wage of $4.25 an hour for the first 90 consecutive days of their employment. States are permitted to set their own minimum wage but Louisiana presently follows the guidelines set by federal legislation.    

• Overtime pay: The FLSA also sets a standard for overtime pay which can be no less than time and a half for any work in excess of 40 hours a week.  

• Child labor: State and federal child labor laws limit the number of hours someone under the age of 16 can work, namely limiting workers age 14 and 15 to working no more than three hours on a school day or 18 hours total in a school week, and no more than eight hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week (such as summer break). 

Safety in the Workplace

Safety concerns in the workplace are governed at the federal level by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state laws. OSHA sets standards and guidelines for safety measures, provides training and educational opportunities, and acts as an oversight and enforcement agency to ensure employers stay in compliance. If an employee is injured on the job, the state requires nearly all employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance that will pay for missed wages and medical expenses related to the injury.  

Anti-Discrimination

Cases involving discrimination and harassment are governed under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights. Most of these laws apply to employers with over 20 employees and all state and government agencies. Essentially, these laws protect employees from be unfairly discriminated against due to the following characteristics: 

• Race 

• Color 

• Religion 

• Sex—this includes pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation 

• National origin 

• Disability 

• Age (40 or older) 

• Genetic information 

Importantly, discrimination can either result in favorable or unfavorable treatment of one class of people and it doesn’t have to be intentional. For example, if an employer requires all applicants to take a hand-written test even though the job doesn’t require comprehensive language skills, they could inadvertently be giving preferential treatment to native English speakers over non-native English speakers.  

Retaliation

Retaliation in the workplace is also prohibited in many cases and this includes instances where an employee complains or files a claim about harassment or discrimination. It’s worth noting that this applies to reports that involve discrimination to you as well as reporting discrimination that happens to someone else. Retaliation can take many forms and could include:

• Wrongful termination 

• Being demoted or transferred to an undesirable position 

• Being assigned a less desirable workload 

• Verbal abuse 

• Physical abuse 

• Threats 

• Giving the employee a negative review 

If you ever feel that you’ve been the victim of retaliation in the workplace, the best thing you can do for yourself is to contact an experienced employment law attorney who can help you with your next steps. It may be possible for you to file a lawsuit to recover any damages you’re owed—and to ensure this type of treatment doesn’t happen to other employees in the future.  

Wrongful Termination

Lastly, if you’ve been the victim of wrongful termination (meaning that your employer fired you illegally based on a protected class you’re part of, or fired you in retaliation), you need to take legal steps to address this. This is also something that you’ll have to act on quickly because most claims must be made within 180 days of the termination.