Do You Know Your Coronavirus Rights?
There’s no doubt the novel coronavirus has upended the lives of people around the world. In a matter of months, life as we knew it has changed. This highly contagious, novel virus has impacted a lot of people. Whether you have an office job, work with your hands or a combination of both, workplaces are rapidly shifting to match the constantly changing developments about this virus. With a population of 327 million people, the United States has had to keep up with the changes as it becomes one of the epicenters of the virus. Legal protective measures that you can benefit from have been put into place. Below are a few instances due to COVID-19 in which you may be able to file a claim.
Employment Class Actions
Whether you’re working from home or you’ve been deemed as an essential worker, you’re still entitled to overtime and breaks. If an employer fails to pay overtime, provide breaks, provide non-compliant wage statements, fails to reimburse employees, doesn’t make correct payment for deliveries or doesn’t provide sufficient working conditions for all of its employees, you and your coworkers may be able to file an employment class action lawsuit. Instead of you filing for a lawsuit separately, you can have a class representative with the same type of claims against the employer to file, requiring monetary compensation to be given in the single class action instead of individual employees.
Wrongful Termination
Working during a pandemic is stressful enough. If your employer fires you for discriminatory reasons, for taking protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and the new Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act or fires you for becoming infected with the coronavirus, you can file a claim for wrongful termination. According to the Gomez Firm, if you contract COVID-19, your medical condition may qualify as a disability, therefore, making it illegal for your employer to fire you based on your health. Your monetary damages are dependent upon the amount of your salary or money that was agreed upon for the period of service lost, future wages and earning capacity.
Negligence And Gross Negligence
You should know by now the importance of social distancing. This prevents groups of people to congregate, further increasing the chances of exposure to the coronavirus. If you work at a grocery store, nursing home or cruise ship avoiding groups of people may be impossible. In this instance, your employer has to ensure the staff aren’t risking the spread of the virus. If a company fails to give its employees proper care while working in these large groups, they could face a lawsuit.
Personal Injury From Coronavirus
When you’re harmed because of the irresponsibility of another coworker or superior, you may be eligible to file a claim. If someone comes to work knowing they’ve contracted COVID-19, and you become infected as well, this is an example of personal injury from coronavirus. You would have to prove there was negligence along with proving you suffered harm as well.