What To Do If Your Employer Fights Back

What To Do If Your Employer Fights Back What To Do If Your Employer Fights Back The Occupational Safety and Health Act, or OSHA, forbids your employer from lashing out at youcutting your pay, demoting or firing youbecause you file or help investigate a complaint about an unsafe workplace. However, the Act does not authorize you to enforce this restriction by going directly into court; you must ask OSHA to intercede.If you suspect illegal retaliation, you have 30 days from the time the illegal action took place to file a complaint about it with your local OSHA office. The outcome of illegal discrimination complaints filed under OSHA often turns on whether you can prove that you were fired or demoted because you contacted authorities, not because your performance slipped or economic cutbacks made it necessary. Be sure to back up your complaint with as much documentation for your employer's action as possible. Once you have filed a complaint about illegal job discrimination, OSHA has 90 days to respond. If you have shown that you were fired or otherwise punished be cause of complaining to OSHA, the compliance officer handling your complaint will attempt to convince your employer to take the proper action to remedy the situation. For example, if you were demoted in retaliation for your complaint, the OSHA compliance officer would probably ask your employer to reinstate you to your original position and give you the backpay to which you are entitled. If OSHA is unsuccessful in talking your employer into reversing the effects of the illegal discrimination, it can sue your employer in federal court on your behalf.