What type of protection is offered for whistleblowers?

On Behalf of | Jan 31, 2016 | Whistleblower Protection |

There are many people who wake up each morning and look forward to going to work. It is ideal for people to love their jobs and enjoy performing the duties that are asked of them, but not everyone is this lucky. In fact, there are people who may have found themselves uncomfortable at work because they have been labeled as a whistleblower, and as a result, have had to deal with a hostile work environment.

When a person reports their employer for violating the law and is known as a whistleblower, there are both federal and state protections for this person. Both the federal and state whistleblower protections allow workers to report their employers without consequence. There are various acts and laws, such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act that all come with protections for whistleblowers.

Both types of protections require complaints to be handled a particular way, but employees are protected under both. They cannot be fired, demoted, discriminated against or treated differently by their employer after reporting any violation of the law. If a person’s employer decides to take action against the employee and retaliate in some way, they may find themselves in even more trouble with the law.

All people are expected to follow the law, so when an employee witnesses their employer violating it, they do not have to hesitate to report them. There are laws to protect whistleblowers, and they can feel safe knowing that they did the right thing by reporting these illegal acts. Should anyone have questions about whistleblower protection or feel as though their employer has retaliated against them, they have the option of contacting an attorney for assistance.

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