Employment Attorneys in San Bernardino, CA

California’s sun-drenched beaches and ancient forests are a sight to behold, but they are not the only reason that more Americans have chosen California as their home than any other state.  When you compare the United States to other highly industrialized countries, the U.S. treats its workers fairly well, but the Golden State goes above and beyond.

Workers in California get higher pay and more legal protections at the state level than workers in almost any other state. Despite this, contract disputes, employment discrimination, and disputes over fair pay can happen in California, as they can happen anywhere. The San Bernardino employment lawyers at Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. are dedicated to helping employees exercise their right to fair pay and to a work environment free from safety hazards, discrimination, and retaliation.

San Bernardino Employment Lawyer

At Mehtani Law Offices, P.C., workers’ rights are our highest priority and our number one concern.  Whether you work in food service, construction, healthcare, tourism, the public sector, or any other line of work, we will help you exercise the rights afforded to you under federal law and the laws of California. These are some of the legal matters with which we help clients at our San Bernardino office and our other office locations throughout California:

• Employee misclassification (doing the work of an employee while your employer pays you as an independent contractor)
• Employment contracts and breach of contract disputes
• Discrimination based on race, sex, caste, disability, and other protected characteristics
• Whistleblower claims and employer retaliation
• Separation agreements and severance pay
• Disputes over non-compete agreements and non-disclosure agreements related to employment relationships

If you are having a problem at your workplace and you are not sure which laws relate to your situation, a San Bernardino employment lawyer can advise you about your rights and about your options for resolving the issue.

Employees are Entitled to Fair Treatment With or Without an Employment Contract

Signing an employment contract feels like a major win because it means that your employer is giving you more than just the basics. The law requires all employers to give full-time employees health insurance and a reasonable amount of money, but the year-end bonuses, paid vacation time, and employer-provided vehicles are the exclusive province of employees with contracts.

You are legally obligated to fulfill the obligations in your contract, and your employer must fulfill its obligations; the contract should indicate the procedures that each party should follow if unable to meet their contractual obligations, including early termination of the contract and modifying its terms. Employment contracts also include dispute resolution procedures, such as granting the courts of California the authority to rule on disputes arising from the contract or requiring arbitration outside of court.

Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. can help you resolve disputes arising from your contract. If you have been offered a contract but have not yet signed it, you should ask an employment lawyer to review the contract. Your lawyer can help you negotiate with your new employer about clauses in the contract that could turn into major sticking points in the event of a dispute, such as mandatory arbitration clauses or non-compete provisions.

Meanwhile, most employees in California do not have contracts. At-will employment relationships are the norm in California and throughout the country. In an at-will employment relationship, both the employer and the employee are free to end the employment relationship at any time. Even when you are employed on an at-will basis, the law protects you from discrimination and retaliation, which can include wrongful termination of employment.

San Bernardino Employment Discrimination Lawyer

If you make a major mistake at your job, your employer has the right to deny you a promotion, reassign you to different duties, or even fire you. If your employer takes these actions against you without a valid reason, it could be a case of employment discrimination. The law defines employment discrimination as taking adverse action against an employee because of a protected characteristic of the employee. Some examples of protected characteristics include race, sex, military status, age, religion, and disability. Some California lawmakers are attempting to list caste as a legally protected characteristic. Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. was the first law firm in California to help a client file a caste discrimination lawsuit against an employer.

Employer Retaliation and California Law

Employers do not like being told that they are wrong, so when employees speak up about misconduct or injustice in the workplace, employers sometimes respond by making life as difficult as possible for the employee, sometimes even going as far as to come up with a flimsy excuse to terminate the employee’s employment. This is employer retaliation, and it is against the law.

An adverse action counts as retaliation if the employer takes the adverse action in response to the employee engaging in a legally protected activity. Some legal activities are exercises of rights such as filing workers’ compensation claims, taking a leave of absence from work for medical or family caregiving reasons, or requesting accommodations for a disability. Complaining to regulators or authorities about wrongdoing by your employer is also a protected activity, whether that wrongdoing consists of safety violations, discrimination, or criminal offenses.

Contact Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. About Employment Disputes

Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. is dedicated to helping workers in California ensure fair pay and safe working conditions and to resolving disputes between employers and employees. Contact Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. in San Bernardino, California, to schedule a consultation.