There are a lot of myths floating around about employment rights and laws. You may hold many of these misbeliefs yourself without even realizing that they are false.
You may be surprised to realize that you have fewer legal rights than you think. Many of the things that people take as their legal rights are more so common workplace policies that are provided at the discretion of the employer.
The one-hour lunch break that your employer kindly provides isn’t actually mandatory by law. You may not necessarily be entitled to severance pay if you are made redundant.
In this article, we are going to run through some of the most common misconceptions about employment rights and why they are false.
If you want further information about each of these misconceptions or you need legal help regarding your employment, get in touch with one of the employment lawyers at HKM.
Contents
Myth 1 – My Employer Cannot Give Me a Bad Reference
One of the most common misconceptions around employment is that employers are not legally allowed to give you a bad reference. However, there is no law that prevents employers from providing negative references.
If you are unhappy with the reference that your current employer has provided, and you feel that they are lying about your performance, you will need to contact an employment lawyer.
Myth 2 – My Employer Cannot Fire Me While I Am on Disability or Paid Leave
If you are on leave due to disability or family and medical leave this does not make you exempt from being laid off. If your employer is dismissing a number of employees, you may be one of those people, and there is very little that you can do to prevent this.
However, if you feel that your employee is only dismissing you because you are an individual with a disability or you are currently on leave, you can dispute the dismissal and claim wrongful termination.
Myth 3 – I Have a Right to Receive a Job Offer After Working as an Intern
Many people accept intern positions at their dream companies, assuming that they will be offered a paid role at the end of the internship. However, employers are not legally obliged to hire you after an internship.
However, completing an unpaid internship and getting nothing in return from the employer is illegal. You may not necessarily receive a full-time permanent position, but your employer must provide some sort of reimbursement for your unpaid work.
Try to avoid signing up for unpaid internships as you don’t want to end up taking legal action against an employer if they don’t provide anything in return for your free work. Instead, choose paid internships so that you are receiving ongoing payments for your hard work.
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