Analyzing Your Options
If something is amiss in your workplace and you have turned to watercooler wisdom, commuter train tales, or locker room skinny, you may have come away with the same urging: Sue.
For most people, that is bad advice. The courtroom is usually the worst place to resolve workplace disputes. Most of them can be handled more efficiently and much more effectively in the workplace itself—through mediation, arbitration or, most often, by honest conversation.
If you have suffered an insult, an injury, or a wrong at work, you are probably feeling angry or hurt. If you have lost your job, you may be hurting financially, too. All of this is likely to cloud your ability to make well-reasoned decisions. So go slowly. Decide what you want to gain. If an apology from your employer would suffice, save yourself the time and expense of filing a legal action.
Do not overlook the obvious: First try talking over your workplace problem with your employer. An intelligent discussion can resolve most wrongs—or at least get your differences out on the table. Most companies want to stay within the law and avoid legal tangles. So the odds are that your problem is the result of an oversight, a misunderstanding, or a lack of legal knowledge.
Here are a few tips on how to present your concerns to your employer or former employer:
Know your rights. The more you know about your legal rights in the workplace—to be paid fairly and on time, to do your job free from discrimination and retaliation, to labor in a safe and healthy place—the more confident you will be in presenting your problem.
Specific penalties that may be imposed on employers who violate them. Your best course is probably not to sue your employer over a violation of a law requiring paid time off for jury duty or a single miscalculation of overtime pay. But knowing whether a particular transgression can be punished with a fine, a criminal conviction, or an order to rehire you is the kind of information that can make your employer take your complaint more seriously in the bargaining process.
Stick to the facts. Keeping your legal rights firmly in mind, write a brief summary of what has gone wrong and your recommendation for resolving the problem. It often helps to have someone who is more objective, such as a friend or family member, review the facts of your workplace problem with you and discuss possible approaches to resolving it.
Check the facts again. The human memory is not nearly as accurate as we like to think it is—particularly when it comes to remembering numbers and dates. Before you approach your employer with a complaint about your pay, check to be sure your math is correct. If your beef is about a discriminatory remark, be sure you can quote it verbatim. Review all of your written records to make sure you have not overlooked a past event or pivotal memo.
Do not be overly emotional. Recognize that dealing with a workplace problem can be stressful. After all, if you are like most workers, you spend about half of your waking hours on the job. But you also know friends, relatives, and acquaintances who are out of work—and who are having hard times finding new jobs. Acknowledge that these pressures of time and money can make it more difficult to deal with a workplace problem. Then vow to proceed as calmly and rationally as possible.
Do not tolerate abuse. If your job is on shaky ground, try not to jeopardize it further by losing your temper and getting fired as a result. A calm presentation of a complaint is always better than an emotional confrontation. Remember the common wisdom that it is easier to find a new job while you still have your old one. At the very least, it’s easier to blaze a new career trail if you leave no muddy tracks behind you.
Be discreet. Discussions of workplace problems are often very personal and should take place privately—not in front of coworkers. Employment problems can be divisive not only for those involved, but for an entire workplace. You don’t want to be justly accused of poisoning the workplace atmosphere or of filling it with disgruntled workers forming pro and con camps. Ask for an appointment to discuss your complaint privately with your supervisor or another appropriate manager. If you give that person a chance to resolve your problem rationally and privately, he or she will be more apt to see things your way.
