Businesses tend to exert a significant measure of control over their employees. However, this doesn’t mean that workers don’t have rights. In general, workers are allowed to do their jobs in a workplace that is free from physical violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination based on gender, religion, or national origin. An employment lawyer in Toronto may help those who want to hold their employers accountable for violating the law.
What Might an Attorney Do? An employment lawyer in Toronto may use pay records or between a supervisor and subordinate to show that an employment law violation occurred. Pay records could show that women were routinely paid less than men for doing the same work. Text messages may show that a supervisor offered a promotion in exchange for a sexual favor. Those messages could also show that the same supervisor threatened to terminate an employee for rejecting those advances. Ultimately, this evidence could be used as leverage for a favorable settlement or a victory at trial.
What Could an Employee Be Entitled To? Employees who have had their rights violated may be entitled to a financial award that includes back pay and the value of benefits lost. They could also be awarded punitive or other types of damages, such as compensation for emotional trauma as a warning to other companies to not engage in similar behavior. Workers may be given their jobs back if they want them with the same pay and benefits that they would have received if they weren’t terminated or demoted. Employees Should Act Quickly There may be statutes of limitation that apply to employment law cases. Furthermore, the sooner an employee acts, the more credible his or her claim will seem in the eyes of a jury. It may also make it easier to retain evidence that could be helpful in court or during settlement talks.