#MondayLawSeries
Things To Know Before You File An Employment Discrimination Charge
Have you experienced any form of discrimination or unfair employment treatment by your employer? Then you’ve got to enforce your right.
To enforce your right, you’d have to file a discrimination charge.
Here are a few things you should know.
- Where To Go For Assistance
Whenever you notice any unfair treatment or you’re maltreated in your workplace because you look or sound foreign, you should contact the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC).
The OSC is a government agency that handles issues regarding immigration unfair practices in the US.
Immigrants can contact the office for any immigration employment-related issues at no cost — you don’t pay for the services.
With the use of their telephone line (1-800-255-7688 for regular calls and 1-800-237-2515 for individuals with an impaired hearing ability), you can call and ask relevant questions about your employment file charge.
Also, the agency will let you know if you have any reasonable basis to file a discrimination charge against your employer.
In situations where your charges are valid, the agency may offer mediation services by reaching out to your employer to fix any issues that’ll lead to legal warfare.
Furthermore, if a potential employer didn’t hire because of your ancestral origin, choice of documents, and any other unfair process, you should fax a charge to the OSC via 1-202-616-5509.
To know more about the OSC, click here.
- OSC, DHS, and ICE
The Office of the Special Counsel, the US Department of Homeland Security, and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement are three distinct entities. And they don’t interfere with the activities of one another.
Here’s the catch…
When you contact the OSC, you can choose to be anonymous and report your case.
Also, undocumented immigrants can report an employer who’s violating the anti-discrimination laws.
The thing is, you don’t get referred to any immigration organization when you call the OSC.
However, undocumented immigrants cannot file an employment discrimination charge — ONLY employment authorized immigrants can file these charges.
For undocumented immigrants who have a potential claim under other provision by the US government, they can also call the OSC and get referred to the appropriate agency to enforce their right.
It’s important to note that an immigrant has the right to be anonymous throughout the entire process and still obtain relevant information for his/her unique case.
How To Prevent An Employment Discrimination Charge
If you’re an employer, and you don’t want to go through the hassle that comes with an employment lawsuit, you can avoid it by simply enforcing a fair treatment among your employees.
Typically, businesses lose during an employment lawsuit. To avoid an employment discrimination charge, you should create a work environment which encourages diversity to boost the employer-employee relationship and also increases the overall productivity of your employees.
As an immigrant, if you’re maltreated merely because you look or speak foreign, you can enforce your right by filing an employment discrimination charge.
Next week, you’ll discover a step-by-step guideline to help you file a charge and ultimately end the cycle of discrimination in your workplace.
Have you filed an employment discrimination charge before? Use the comment section to share your experience with us.