Indianapolis Employment Law Blog

As someone who works in Indiana, you have certain rights, and one of them involves your right to “blow the whistle” if your employer is engaging in illegal or unethical acts. Your employer may not retaliate against you for your decision to call attention to the wrongdoing, meaning he or she cannot treat you unfairly or differently than others in your place of business to “punish” you for speaking out. At the Employment Law Office of John H. Haskin & Associates, LLC, we have a strong understanding of what types of behaviors constitute workplace retaliation, and we have helped many victims of it seek recourse.

Retaliation in the workplace, per the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, can manifest in many ways, and it does not always look the same. In some instances, it might be overt, such as you getting fired or demoted shortly after you make the decision to blow the whistle on your employer. Your employer may also transfer you to a less-desirable position than you previously held, or intentionally make your work more difficult for you by changing your hours, giving you less-desirable shifts and so on.

When getting a new job in Indiana, you may be asked to sign an employment contract. However, this is not always common practice. Many industries do not routinely use contracts for employment, but there are some specific jobs or situations where an employment contract is necessary.

According to The Balance, an employment contract is usually used for high-level management positions or when hiring a professional. These situations typically call for using some type of binding agreement because such employees may be more difficult to replace than your typical employee if they were to quit. These documents will usually say you cannot quit for a specific amount of time and often have penalties if you do.

If you have been fired from your job, you may wonder if the situation falls under the umbrella of wrongful termination. In most cases, the answer will be no. This is because Indiana is an employment-at-will state. You or your employer can end employment for any reason at any time. At John H. Haskin & Associates, LLC, we want you to understand your employment rights and know when something is not lawful and could be wrongful termination.

While in most cases, your employer has every right to fire you for any reason, there are some exceptions. You cannot be fired for not doing something that violates the law. In addition, you cannot be fired for exercising your right to workers' compensation. Basically, anything that is a retaliation against something you have legally done might fall under wrongful termination.

Everybody wants to find a suitable mate, and when you spend 40 hours a week at the office, your eye might naturally turn to your colleagues for romantic prospects. While this is an understandable impulse, anybody who has been on the receiving end of such attention knows that it is often uncomfortable at best. According to Fast Company, such dalliances might boost productivity, but they are rarely as harmless as you might imagine.

The following are some of the most common reasons why dating in the workplace can be a disastrous endeavor. When things go wrong, it is likely to negatively impact both parties, so it is best to keep things strictly professional when you are at work.