What are an employee's rights in a non-union situation?

Question

As a non-unioned employee do I have any expectation of rights or fair treatment (aside from flat out abuse or discrimination)?? Or can a company terminate employment at their whim or move your job to another state and not provide relocation assistance?

Answer 1

Legally your rights are covered by an employment contract (if you have one) and state & Federal laws. For an at will employe, one without a Union or employment contract, the employer can do anything except actions that are based upon discrimination. See www.eeoc.gov.

A company can terminate an at will employee or move their job without relocation assistance, as long as the action was not motivated by the employees age, sex, race, ethnic origin, disability, etc.

As for fair treatment and abuse, unless you can prove that the cause of those actions is discrimination, you are out of luck there too. You prove discrimination as a motive by showing that other employees, in the same or similar position, of a different age, sex, race, etc, were treated better.

You should look at the EEOC (Federal law) site www.eeoc.gov and your state's Human Rights Department website. You can also find info at the Department of Labor, your states DOL and the Federal at www.dol.gov.

Answer 2

Most states are at-will states. That means you can quit at any time, or you can be terminated at any time. The company can do whatever they elect to do, and if that means moving to another state, they are not obligated to offer you relocation. They may decide it's more cost-effective to simply hire new employees in that new state. As long as they offer you COBRA, they do not have to offer you anything else.

What you ARE protected against is harassment, abuse, discrimination, etc. Check out the Dept of Labor website for details. As long as the employer does not violate any laws as far as discrimination goes, there's not much you can do.

If you still feel you have a case, make sure you have everything documented, and then call your local DOL office. I feel for you, I really do.

Answer 3

What did you agree to when you took your job? Contact your state's employment organization. There are rules and regulations that must be followed but in a right to work state you barter for your job and treatment and you are at the mercy of your employers.

Answer 4

Yes they can terminate your postion on a "whim" you don't need notice as for moving also they have the right to move it for finacial reasons and if you wan the job you have to pay to move. Some companies will help but they don't have to