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Employee Rights at the Workplace All employees have basic rights in the workplace including the right to privacy, fair compensation, and freedom from discrimination. A job applicant also has certain rights even prior to being hired as an employee. Those rights include the right to be free from discrimination based on age, gender, race, national origin, or religion during the hiring process. Employees may also have a right to privacy in their telephone conversations or voicemail messages. However, employees have very limited rights to privacy in their e-mail messages and Internet usage while using the employer's computer system.

Other important employee rights include:

- Right to be free from discrimination and harassment of all types;

- Right to a safe workplace free of dangerous conditions, toxic substances, and other potential safety hazards;

- Right to be free from retaliation for filing a claim or complaint against an employer (these are sometimes called "whistleblower" rights);

- Right to have written Employment Agreement before you start work;

- Leave is the right of all employees Generally,

an employee is given the following leaves during the course of his or her employment:

1. Casual Leave: This is provided to an employee to take care of urgent or unseen matters like a family emergency; for example, employees can apply for casual leave to attend a parent-teacher meeting called for by their child’s school.

2. Sick Leave: Sick leave is provided when an employee gets sick.

3. Privilege or Earned Leave: Privilege or earned leaves are long leaves that are planned for in advance.

4. Other Leaves – Apart from the above mentioned leaves, there are some other paid, unpaid or half-paid leaves which are provided at the discretion of the company.

- Right to Equal Pay for Equal Work Equal pay for Equal work is a constitutional right and any employer is liable to pay equally to any men, women or temporary staff performing same tasks and undertaking same responsibilities. There can be no discrimination while paying any basis to employees.

- Right to go on strikes The employees are provided with the Right to go on a strike without giving a notice, however if the said employee is a public utility employee, then he would be bound by the prohibitions laid down in the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Section 22(1) lays down certain conditions on Strikes by public utility employees, the conditions includes giving out prior notice to the employer six weeks before going on such strike.

- Gratuity benefits Gratuity is a lump sum amount paid to employees and it is a statutory benefit given to employees who have rendered continuous service for at least five years. This is to provide social security to employees and an employer cannot forfeit the amount of gratuity.

- Provident Fund Every employer is liable to maintain an Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF). It’s a retirement benefit scheme that’s available to all salaried employees. The law mandates that both the employer and the employee has to contribute 12% of their basic salary.

- Right to get Insurance Every employee will have the right to be insured by the employer under the Employee State Insurance Act 1948, in case of any kind of injury or miscarriage occurring during the course of employment.

- Maternity benefit Every female employee has the right to get 26 weeks of paid maternity. Maternity Benefit Act has been enacted to safeguard the interest of the pregnant women at workplace. Employees are also entitled to one additional month of paid leave in case of complications arising due to pregnancy, delivery, premature birth, miscarriage, medical termination or a tubectomy operation.

- Right against Sexual Harassment at Workplace The law mandates employers to protect their female employees at workplace against any incidence of sexual harassment as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention) Act, 2013. All offices, hospitals, institutions and other establishments should set up an internal complaint committee to address all the complaints made by women reporting sexual harassment at workplace.

- Working Hours The Shop and Establishments Act of every state has fixed the maximum no. of working hours 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week. The Shops and Establishment act does not see any difference between managerial and non-managerial workers when it comes to regulations relating to working hours. The working hours may be increased up to 54 hours a week upon prior notice to the Inspector, but this increase would be subject to a condition that overtime hours should not be more than 150 in one year.

- Written employment agreement Typically in a private organization, most of the labour laws are not applicable on employees. They are majorly governed by the terms and conditions of the employment agreement. In such an event, if there is no written employment agreement it may lead to unnecessary disagreements between the employer and the employee. Therefore, an employment agreement gives both the parties a sense of clarity over their roles, responsibilities, and obligations. Your employer must give you a written agreement before you commence your work. In case, your employer denies, you can rightfully ask for it.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

- Prevents employers from giving preferential treatment to younger workers to the detriment of older workers.

- Only applies to workers 40 years of age and older, and to workplaces with 20 or more employees.

- Does not prevent an employer from favoring older employees over younger employees.

Fair Labor Standards Act - Provides regulation as to the duration of work days, and breaks an employer must provide. - Governs applicable salary and overtime requirements set out by the federal government.

Family and Medical Leave Act - Provides that employers must allow employees to take up to a 12-week leave of absence for qualified medical purposes. - Stipulates that to qualify for the leave, the employee must have worked for the employer for 12 months and for 1,250 hours in the 12 months preceding the leave. - Preserves qualified employees' positions for the duration of the leave.

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