Employees who file a complaint against an employer because of unethical or unlawful practices they experience or witness on the job may be subject to retaliatory actions. Fortunately, federal laws prohibit employers from punishing employees for making complaints or participating in workplace investigations. Punishment doesn’t just mean termination or demotion. There are other times when ...
If you are aware of someone who has defrauded the government or violated labor laws, you should consider becoming a whistleblower. Becoming a whistle blower is not only the ethical thing to do, but you might also be substantially rewarded for making corruption and fraud known to the public. There are numerous protections and incentives place to encourage people to report any questionable actions ...
Many of the rights that employees enjoy today came into place because of the efforts made by workers’ rights protesters back in the 19th century and the early days of our industrialized economy. Before this, holidays were unheard of, and both children and adults slaved away for more than 16 hours a day, slept in work houses on factory property, and were barely fed enough food to keep themselves ...
A person is considered a "whistleblower" if they report a violation of the law by their employer. There are legal protections in place to help protect the rights of workers who report their employer’s workplace violations or discriminatory practices. The federal government and states have laws which protect whistleblowers from unjust retaliation for filing a claim or reporting their employer’s ...
If you are a federal employee , it makes sense you would one day come across a situation in which you believe illegal activity is occurring--whether it be a waste of funds, abuse of authority, mismanagement, threat to public health and safety, etc. In such scenarios, it would be best for you to report anything you see in the name of upholding your moral code and keeping people responsible.This is ...
The goal of USERRA is to protect uniformed service members from their prior employers by eliminating any related job risks. After deployment, members of the U.S. uniformed services are entitled to return to their jobs. While this law is commonly known, you should still be aware that it does not protect you from job misconduct and does not cover all disputes that might arise with an employer. You ...
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) handles complaints made by federal employees against federal agencies or supervisors regarding prohibited personal practices and violations of the Hatch Act. These complaints frequently involve retaliatory action against whistleblowers. They may also involve complaints against employees holding specific government positions that are forbidden from engaging in ...
Federal employees often find themselves directly or indirectly managing sensitive information, documentation, or funding. When something goes awry or another government agent knowing misuses, exposes, or destroys such information, it is the duty of every other employee to let that misconduct be known. This is known as becoming a whistleblower, or starting a federal whistleblower case , and will ...
The original Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) of 1989 was enacted by Congress to give whistleblowers throughout the government a variety of legal protections to deter undue retaliation against them. It also established different remedies that could be used if it was concluded that retaliation had occurred for whistleblowing. Unfortunately for whistleblowers and the average American, several ...
Whenever there is a nationwide or international news story about major wrongdoing by a government agency, there is undoubtedly a whistleblower somewhere at its source. Due to their ability to see an agency from the inside, federal employees have the closest and clearest perspective out of anyone, so it makes sense that they’d be the first or only people to see the big problems. Since this unique ...
Are you working for an individual or company that appears to be operating outside the bounds of the law? Do you witness shady or blatantly illegal practices in the workplace on a daily basis? If so, it is important to know that you can take action. Under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) and the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act (CCFAA), employees who witness fraudulent, ...
