Tips To Handle Employment Gaps.Parts 1

  

 Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

This http://www.WorkTree.com career article by Nathan Newberger gives job seekers some important pointers on handle gaps in their work history.

Being unemployed is a difficult and stressful situation. To make matters even worse, the fact that you may not currently have a job can prevent you from finding a job. It is unfair, but true. Having gaps in your employment history are often an immediate turn off for recruiters and interviewers; however, with a little bit of creativity, you can make those gaps disappear.

This month's newsletter explains the 4 steps to handling gaps in your employment history. Don't let being out of work keep you out of work.

These following four methods will be covered:

1. Find Real Gaps
2. Fill In Gaps
3. Dodge Resume Gaps
4. Mention Major Gaps

4 TIPS TO HANDLE EMPLOYMENT GAPS!
1) FIND REAL GAPS
The first mistake many people make is to assume the worst when it comes to being out of work. Not having a job does not mean you have an employment gap. There are many legitimate reasons for not working. These reasons can be addressed directly without any worry.

The most common explanations of unemployment that should NOT be considered employment gaps are:

• •   Attending school
• •   Having/taking care of children
• •   Personal health problems
• •   Serious Illness in the Family
• •   Being between jobs for a short period of time (less than 6 months)

2) FILL IN GAPS
If your bout with unemployment does not fall into one of the categories listed above, you most likely have an official gap in your employment history. Even at this point, you do not necessarily have to let a potential employer know about this gap.

By keeping busy while you are between jobs, you can turn a would-be gap into a learning experience. Consider using the following tactics to fill those gaps:

• •   Take a class related to your profession. Being in school accounts for your time off, and
      employers like to see people bettering themselves through education.
• •   Look for freelance or consulting projects. These jobs are not permanent, but they do
      ensure that you keep up-to-date with your skills. You can put this type
      of work on your resume as if it were any other kind of job.
• •   Volunteer for an organization. Getting paid would be ideal, but future employers are
      concerned with your work experience. To a recruiter, a volunteering
      position can be just as good as a paying job.
• •   Read trade journals. Though this method may not be something you put on your
      resume, it will help you stay current with the industry. Conveying the
      newest information possible in an interview shows that you have not lost your
      knowledge of the business.

3) DODGE RESUME GAPS
Not everyone will be able to find a creative way to fill the gaps in their employment history. If you find yourself in this situation, it is no longer an issue of proving your time was occupied. Instead, you should focus on the fact that you are still skilled and qualified.(By Nathan Newberger)

Wrongful Termination of Employment.Parts 2

  

Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

Additionally, an employee cannot be fired in violation of any policies and procedures established by the employer. For example, if the employee handbook requires that employees be put on probation for a certain amount of time before being fired for a certain offense then the employer cannot waive the probationary period in violation of its own policies and procedures without the employee’s consent.

The employment at will doctrine allows an employee to leave a job at any time and allows an employer to find the best employees for its business without being legally obligated to continue employing a particular employee. However, the wrongful termination laws place an important qualifier on that right and protect employees from being unfairly and illegally fired for the reasons described above.

Remedies                 

If you believe that you have been wrongfully terminated then you may be entitled to compensation under the law. Your potential remedies are defined by state law and may include:

• Back Pay for the time that you were not working after your wrongful termination;
• Reinstatement to Your Job, with reasonable accommodations if necessary;
• Promotion, if a promotion was wrongfully denied you;
• Other Compensatory Damages, including compensation for benefits such as medical insurance that were lost due to wrongful termination;
• Punitive Damages; and
• Attorney’s fees.

Wrongful termination law seeks to strike a balance between protecting employees and allowing employers to fire employees who are not a good fit for their company. If you think that you have been wrongfully terminated it is important to gather as much evidence and to keep as much documentation as possible to support a potential case against your employer.

Source : http://resources.lawinfo.com

Wrongful Termination of Employment. Parts 1

   
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

In the absence of an employment contract, an American employee is an employee at will. The employee at will doctrine allows employers and employees the freedom to terminate the employment relationship for good cause or for no cause at all. However, it does not allow the employer to fire an employee for “bad” or “wrongful” cause. 

What is “Wrongful"?

Wrongful termination is defined by both state and federal law. Generally, an employee may have been wrongfully terminated if the employee was fired for:

• Discriminatory Reasons: this includes any class protected by law including race, sex, age, national origin and disability. Some states also make it illegal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation.
• Retaliatory Reasons: an employer may not fire an employee for exercising his or her civil rights. For example, if the employee alleges that he or she has been discriminated against and files a discrimination claim with the employer or a state or federal agency, the employee cannot be fired for filing the claim. Similarly, an employee cannot be fired for participating in the investigation of another employee’s civil rights claim.
• Refusing to Break the Law: it is against the law for an employer to require an employee to break the law as part of his or her job and an employer cannot terminate an employee’s job for refusal to break the law; and
• Being a Whistleblower, in certain situations: the law protects whistleblowers from being fired if they report certain activities of their employers through the proper channels. For example, if an employee raises concerns that an employer is breaking environmental laws then the employee maybe protected from losing his or her job if the employee brought the concerns to a supervisor or to an appropriate government agency. However, the employee would not be protected from termination if the employee told a colleague or the media.

Source : http://resources.lawinfo.com

The "For Good Cause" Defense to Employment Discrimination Claims

 Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

Employers may not fire employees for discriminatory reasons such as their age, sex, disability, religion, race, or national origin. However, sometimes employers are put in the difficult position of having a valid legal reason for terminating an employee even though the employee may claim that he or she was fired for discriminatory reasons. 

The “For Good Cause” Defense to Employment Discrimination

If an employee alleges that he or she was fired for a discriminatory reason then the employer may present a defense to that claim. An employer is permitted to terminate an employee at will, also known as an employee without a written employment contract, for good cause or for a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason at any time. For example, an employer can terminate employees for misconduct or because business has slowed down and the employer no longer needs as many employees as it once did.

While an employer has the right to terminate employees for good cause or for a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason, the employer must make its decision solely for nondiscriminatory reasons. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 makes it an unlawful employment practice to terminate an employee if it can be shown that there was a discriminatory motive involved in the employer’s decision to terminate an employee. An employer must be able to prove that it would have made the same decision to terminate the employee absent a discriminatory motive. If an employer is successful in proving this element of his defense then the employee will not be entitled to damages.

Best Practices Make “For Good Cause” Defenses Successful

It is important for an employer to remember that it must have terminated an employee absent a discriminatory motive and it must be able to prove the absence of a discriminatory motive in court. While proving the absence of discrimination is not always easy, there are some important pieces of evidence that an employer can provide. For example, an employer should keep detailed employee record files that include all formal and informal employee reviews, warnings about behavior or work quality that were provided to the employee and, guidance or training that was provided to the employee. The employer may present evidence that all employees who act as the employee acted are fired, regardless of employees’ sex, age, disability, religion, race or other protected status. Similarly, if an employer is making layoffs for economic reasons then the employer should follow a logical method for making those layoffs. For example, the common “last hired, first fired” rule.

Employment Lawyers are Important in Employment Defense Cases

For the reasons discussed above, record keeping is an important part of employment discrimination cases. An employment law attorney can help an employer learn how to keep employee records in a way that accurately documents the employee’s work history and that can be used as reliable evidence if a future employment discrimination lawsuit should arise. Once an employment discrimination lawsuit is filed against an employer, an employment discrimination lawyer can help argue the “for good cause” defense to the court. Therefore, it is important for employers to have experienced employment lawyers who can protect their interests.

Source :http://resources.lawinfo.com

Who is Protected from Employment Discrimination?

 
 
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

Most working Americans are employees at will. That means that they may quit or their employer may fire them at any time for any reason or for no reason at all. However, the right of the employer to fire an employee, to refuse to hire an employee or to provide certain employee benefits is not unlimited. The employer must abide by all applicable employment laws that protect employees and potential employees from discrimination.

 

The Federal Laws

 

Since the 1960s, there have been several laws passed that were meant to protect employees from being discriminated against by their employers. That includes safeguarding protected classes of people from unwarranted firings, refusals to hire, unfair wages, unfair working conditions, unfair benefits, unfair transfers, unfair assignments, unfair access to company facilities and more.

 

The move toward codifying the antidiscrimination laws began with the Equal Pay Act of 1963. That Act prevents employers from engaging in sex based wage discrimination for men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment. The Act applies to almost every employer in the United States.

 

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress and signed into law. Title VII of that Act protects employees from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The Act applies to all employers who employ at least 15 employees.

 

Older workers gained protection from discrimination with the passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. That Act applies to workers age 40 and older as long as the private employer has 20 or more workers. It also applies to public employers, employment agencies and labor groups.

 

In the 1970s two significant antidiscrimination laws were passed. The first was the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prevented the federal government from discriminating against employees who have disabilities. In 1978, the Civil Service Reform Act was passed that had numerous prohibited personnel practices and was intended to promote overall fairness in the federal government employment arena. 

 

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed and provided protection for qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector and in state and local governments just as the Rehabilitation Act had done for federal employees 17 years earlier.

 

It is important to note that many states have additional protections for employees within their state. Those laws vary and some significantly expand the federal laws. For example, some states have laws that protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. States are permitted to provide more protection to employees but they cannot reduce the protection provided by federal law. Most states have an office of equal opportunity or an equal opportunity commission that can provide you with additional information on specific state laws and protections.

 

The Responsibility of Employers

 

Employers must make reasonable accommodations for the protected classes described by federal or state law. That means, for example, that a person’s religious observances must be accommodated if it can be done in such a way as not to cause material harm to the employer.

 

Many argue that employment discrimination still exists in the workplace, however, the employment discrimination laws are meant to lessen the extent that discrimination affects employees and help level the playing field for all employees.

 

Can I Be Fired? Can I Quit? Understanding the Employment at Will Doctrine

 
 
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

In the absence of a formal contract that governs your working relationship with your employer, you are considered an employee at will. Many Americans are employees at will and it is, therefore, important for both employees and employers to understand the concept and a worker’s rights under this work arrangement.

 

What is Employment At Will?

Unless there is a contract or a collective bargaining agreement that expressly states the employment terms, an employee is an employee at will.   That means that an employer may terminate the employee’s job with or without good cause and that the employee may quit his job for any reason.

Supporters of the employment at will doctrine argue that it promotes efficiency in the workplace. In order for a business to achieve its greatest potential, the employer and the employee must be productive and successful. It is important that the employer and the employee work well together. The doctrine recognizes that sometimes an employee and an employer do not work well together even though there is no tangible reason for the unproductive working relationship. Therefore, the doctrine allows either party to leave the relationship for any reason rather than be locked into an arrangement that is not working.

 

Exceptions to the Employment at Will Doctrine

Each state creates its own exceptions to the employment at will doctrine. There are some exceptions that have widespread agreement among the states and other exceptions where there is less agreement.

 

One exception upon which most states agree is the public policy exception to the employment at will doctrine. Forty eight states and the District of Columbia have created a public policy exception to the employment at will doctrine that prohibits an employer from firing an employee for reasons that violate the state’s public policy or a state or federal statute. For example, it would be illegal for an employer in these states to fire an employee because he is a member of a protected race or for complying with a state or federal whistleblower law.

 

Another exception that is recognized in more than one half of the states is the implied contract exception. This means that an employer may not fire an employee if there is an implied contract between the two parties, even if a formal written contract does not exist. This exception can be difficult to prove and it is the burden of the fired employee to prove that there was an implied contract between the parties.

 

 

While many employees assume that there is some kind of covenant of good faith that should be involved when dealing with an employee’s termination, only a handful of states have recognized that such a covenant exists. Most state courts have found that implying a standard of good faith or fair dealing would fundamentally change the employment at will doctrine.

 

Losing a job can be a frightening experience that requires an employee to make fundamental changes in his or her life. Similarly, accepting the resignation of a valued employee can be difficult for an employer. Therefore, it is important that both parties understand all of the laws that surround their employment relationship.

 

Source:http://resources.lawinfo.com 

Work Place Discrimination & Related Rights In Employment. Parts 2

 

 
 

 Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

 

Religious or Belief Discrimination it is in equal opportunities and employment discrimination, because of one's religion or belief, to apply a condition on the assumption that a law would not be respected -e.g. an undertaking that Sigh builders would wear helmets at all times, or that a Sigh judge would wear instead of his turban the wig worn in British courts of law.

Degrading treatment (which the above would also be) in employment discrimination under the race relations legislation (racial victimization -or religious, ethnic, color, nationality, citizenship) takes into account what the complainant considers to be degrading.

Age Discrimination may also be complained of, if employee or candidate may is refused employment because of his or her age, or in employment if is less favourably treated or subjected to victimization.

Disability discrimination while it is, in employment discrimination legislation, to not provide some 30% disability work for disabled employees in a workforce of 20 or more -with appropriate work and equipment and workplace adjustments, disability discrimination is subject to employment discrimination precedent and the courts may regard an employer's failure in special interviewing arrangements not a discriminatory practice amounting to employment discrimination but failure of the disabled job applicant, even if the special arrangements need was stated on the application and details were never asked, if disabled persons fail to specify them .

Disability discrimination is legal if the workforce is less than 15 ~also if of indirect effect on disabled workers -it is employment discrimination only if it affects directly.

Disabilities do not entitle to equal rights or disability rights in disability employment discrimination unless for a year seriously disabled in ordinary daily activities -else it is not employment discrimination.

Genuine occupational qualification excuses employment discrimination -in equal opportunities employment rights it is a genuine occupational qualification is one that does not unjustly disqualify an entire class of, e.g., female workers or married women employees, or staff transsexual or of a different sexual orientation, or alien workers ~in employment discrimination such proof is on the employer in sex or race discrimination claims - Panesaar -v- Nestle 1980.

Grading of employees vulnerable to employment discrimination -e.g. of working women or black or immigrant workers, may be complained of as employment discrimination ~employer must show that were not taken into account personal factors, e.g. a working woman likely to take maternity leave or a single parent working girl, in assessing - National Vulcan Engineering -v- Wade, 1977.
Source : Eren ( The Autor )