Various employment laws protect you from discrimination on the basis of race, sex, including pregnancy, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, color, national origin, and genetic information. It is illegal for an employer to base important decisions, such as hiring, pay, promotion and firing  on these characteristics. The law also requires that employers pay women and men at the same rate for the same work, regardless of whether there is actual evidence of intentional discrimination.    

Employers are obligated to protect you from a hostile work environment based on such factors as race, sex (including pregnancy), religion, age, and disability. Offensive conduct may include but is not limited to offensive jokes, name-calling, intimidation, or physical assaults. It is illegal when enduring the conduct is a condition of employment and the conduct is severe and pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile or abusive. You are entitled to protection from supervisors, co-workers, contractors and customers, and anyone else you have to deal with as a part of your job.  

The law requires that you be paid at least minimum wage and paid overtime for any hours worked over 40 in a seven-day workweek. Some employers improperly pay employees on a salaried basis to avoid paying overtime. And, if you are supposed to be paid overtime, your employer can’t ask you to waive the overtime pay or work off the clock. 

If you have a qualifying disability and your company has more than 15 employees, your employer may be required to provide assistance, called an “accommodation,” to help you do your job. An employer may not refuse to hire someone who is disabled if they could do the job with reasonable accommodation.