Employment law is one of those areas that don’t seem to get the attention of other areas of law although it concerns anyone who has a job. This maybe because a lot of workers assume that the company or a particular department they’re part of wouldn’t do the wrong thing by them. Whether it be workplace bullying or as serious as unfair dismissal, you must take appropriate steps toward resolution and closure.
If anything doesn’t seem right or unreasonable at your work when it comes your conditions, hours or pay, don’t assume anything but get informed instead. Before you call employment lawyers try and find out as much information as you can. Visit official government workplace law websites; example for Australia would be Fairwork Australia website. Although they won’t give you specific advice, you can even call them for clarification of what you found on the website – just to make sure.
Once you know enough about what you’re entitled to, compare that to your predicament and see if it holds truth. Once again, if it doesn’t sound like your employer is doing the right thing by you, you’re probably right. Mind you that your company employed and paid for human resources department will appear to be wanting to hear your side of story and help you – there is only so much they’re prepared to actually do for you.
You’re not on your own no matter how isolated you may feel. Once you’ve done the research, discuss your concerns and what you found with your manager first. If that fails to rectify your workplace problem, do talk to HR. Be patient, don’t jump to conclusions, assume nothing and keep a cool head no matter how slowly the resolution process seems to be progressing.
Keep a diary!
If you’ve really exhausted all of the avenues to resolve your employment problem, call employment lawyers or click here. In Australia, they’re not part of any government free service so be prepared to sign an agreement confirming that they will be representing you and this is when the hourly rate starts ticking. If you’ve done your homework properly, you’ll have all of the relevant information with you and that will save time as we know that time is money – literally when it comes to employment lawyers in Australia.
Do your research as to who is best qualified to represent you, I would tent to prefer a law firm that specializes in employment law rather than a firm that does everything and among other things they have a lawyer on staff who does employment and industrial law. Your employment law firm research as well as your own due diligence before employing lawyers will pay off in the end – let’s face it, when your manager and HR don’t listen your side of the story, they will certainly listen to employment law lawyers.
