An employment attorney’s purpose is to help employers and employees resolve issues in the event of a conflict. Your relationship with your employer could become strained due to various disputes such as wrongful termination, workplace safety, discrimination, salary, etc. Having an employment lawyer in your contact is helpful in these situations as they can explain your and your employer’s rights and duties.
There are primarily two kinds of employment attorney in Ontario, CA. As an employment lawyer is knowledgeable about both sides’ rights and duties, one focuses on employees or plaintiffs. These lawyers are also referred to as employment discrimination, federal employment, or employment rights lawyers. The different type focuses on employers or defendants. They are also referred to as management lawyers.
When should you approach one?
Employment lawyers have a rule that they can either handle an employee or a plaintiff’s case or an employer or a defendant’s case. However, some lawyers are open to taking up clients from either side. You may have wondered when would be the right time to approach an employment lawyer. Let us explore that in this article.
Suppose you, as an employee, believe something is not right at your workplace, or you are being discriminated against, and your employer refuses to provide any remedy for the situation. In that case, you can contact an employment lawyer to help you out. It, however, is optional to seek out a lawyer immediately; as an alternative or initial step, you can also reach out to the federal EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) to file a complaint.
If the situation involves a small company with its principal as the defendant, it is best to seek advice before filing a complaint. Once you’ve learned enough about the situation, you can file an administrative complaint with the state government. Then, that agency will investigate the matter to determine if there is enough evidence to assist the employee in filing a claim or charge against the principal.
However, if the agency fails to find sufficient evidence, the employee still holds the right to file a lawsuit against the principal. The agency will either assist the employee in the process or advise them to hire an employment lawyer to help them understand their rights in the situation and decide if pursuing a lawsuit is worth it. This happens because agency findings are often not even eligible to be used as evidence as they do not do extensive investigations.
If you want your case to be investigated in depth, hiring a lawyer immediately would be the best option.