Career & Work

If your employer fires you within days of you filing a discrimination complaint or taking FMLA leave, federal law is already suspicious of them — not you. Workers’ comp retaliation is also illegal, though usually under state law. Here’s what that actually means for you.

Most people don’t know this — but in most states, receiving severance pay doesn’t automatically block you from getting unemployment benefits too. That could mean thousands of dollars you’d otherwise leave on the table.

If a customer or client sexually harasses you at work, your boss can’t just shrug and say it’s not their problem. The law says otherwise — and you have real options.

Some employers label workers ‘part-time’ just to skip paying benefits, even when those workers are clocking full-time hours. Here’s why that label might not hold up legally — and what to know before assuming it applies to you.

If your boss passed you over for a raise or promotion shortly after you took FMLA leave or filed an EEOC complaint, that’s not just bad luck — it might be illegal retaliation, and the timing itself can be used against your employer.

If someone at work is harassing or discriminating against you, you can’t just go straight to court — federal law requires you to file a complaint with a government agency first. And there’s a deadline. Miss it, and you could lose your right to sue entirely.

If your employer offers an HSA or FSA, every dollar you put in is tax-free. Most young workers skip it entirely — and that’s quietly costing them money every paycheck.

If your job requires a uniform and the cost of buying or cleaning it would bring your hourly pay below the federal minimum wage, your employer is legally required to cover it. This is federal law — not a courtesy.

Interviewers sometimes ask questions they’re not legally allowed to ask. Knowing how to handle it — without blowing up your chances — is something most people figure out the hard way.

If someone at work sexually harasses you, reporting it internally first isn’t just good advice — skipping that step could seriously hurt your ability to take legal action later. Here’s what you actually need to know.

Having a job offer pulled after you’ve already resigned from your old job is devastating — and it might not be something you just have to accept. Depending on how things went down, you may actually have legal options.

If you’re a teenager with a job, there are real federal rules about how many hours you can work and what kinds of jobs you can hold — and your employer is legally on the hook if they ignore them.

There’s a federal law that forces certain employers to warn you before a mass layoff — and if they don’t follow the rules, you could be owed serious money. Most people have never heard of it.

If you file an HR complaint and suddenly get fired or passed over for a promotion shortly after, that timing isn’t just suspicious — it can actually be used as legal evidence of retaliation. Here’s what that means for you.

Before an employer can officially reject you based on a background check, federal law says they have to hand you a copy of that report and give you a real chance to fight back. Most people have no idea this right exists.

If your job offers a 401(k) match and you’re not contributing enough to get the full amount, your employer is keeping money they would have given you. It’s gone forever once you miss it.

The clean energy industry added 142,000 jobs in a single year, and a lot of those roles pay seriously well without ever needing a college diploma. If you’re figuring out what to do after high school, this is worth knowing.

Most people assume calling in sick is protected. In most of the U.S., it’s not — but that’s changing fast, and where you live makes all the difference.