Is there anti-retaliation protection for former employees?
Retaliation against fired employees is prohibited by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This kind of discrimination is referred to as “post-employment” retaliation in employment law jargon.
While employed and pondering unethical behavior activities, it is always advisable to speak with a team of Charlotte employment law attorneys. Federal law may offer different protections depending on where you live, even if it is a federal statute like the FCA.
POST-EMPLOYMENT TERMINATION: WHAT IS IT?
Typical reasons for post-employment termination include
(i)failing to rehire,
(ii) defaming or blocking an employee,
(iii) bringing an unjustified legal action,
(iv) filing a fraudulent police report, and
(v) filing a fictitious complaint with a licensing body.
However, the False Claims Act (“FCA”) makes it illegal to discriminate or retaliate against “any employee” who tries to stop their company from defrauding or overcharging the federal government. As a result, the law on protection from post-termination retribution is murkier.
EMPLOYEES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR ARE AT THE MAXIMUM RISK
In post-employment termination proceedings, the federal government is frequently overcharged by private businesses with federal contracts for services rendered, or health care providers defraud the Medicare or Medicaid programmes in a hospital setting.
Retaliation against “any employee” is forbidden under the FCA, which only prohibits it against “any employee,” not specifically against former employees. Are past workers still protected?
PROTECTING REWARDS FOR THOSE WHO REPORT OFFICIAL FRAUD
The legislative purpose behind Congress establishing this statute in the first place—to safeguard employees and provide incentives for them to combat fraud on the government while they are employed—was at the heart of the court’s decision. Congress would not have to incentivise whistleblowers to report if it had allowed “open season” on them after wrongfully firing them. This would have defeated the congressional goal.
Unfortunately, this is not how every court has decided. Because the protection against post-termination employment is not explicitly expressed in the FCA, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals adopted a rigorous reading of the FCA and refused to recognise it.
The appeals court rules FCA anti-termination provision applies to retaliation after termination.
According to a recent decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, despite the FCA not stating that it applies only to current employment, the term “any employee” as used in the Act might theoretically refer to any previous employee.
The terms of an individual’s employment are specified by an offer letter, an employment contract, or verbally. In a non-union workplace, every employee negotiates on their own; the terms of employment are not universal between all positions.
Many prospective employees do not negotiate at all by choosing to accept the offer that the employer makes to them. Others ask for $5,000 – $10,000 more to see if they can start the job with a higher salary. Since raises are subsequently based on the pay rate negotiated, it behooves a new employee to negotiate the best possible deal.
In workplaces that are represented by a union, the collective bargaining agreement covers most aspects of an employee’s relationship with the workplace including compensation, benefits, hours of employment, sick time off, and vacation. The contract also protects the rights of the unionized employee and gives the employee options to grieving workplace treatment. The existence of the contract takes away the employee’s individual right to negotiate his salary.
What Does an Employee Do?
An employee works part-time, full-time, or is temporary in a job assignment.
An employee barters his or her skills, knowledge, experience, and contribution in exchange for compensation from an employer. An employee is either exempt from overtime or not exempt from overtime; the rules about paying an employee are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
An exempt employee is paid for accomplishing a full job in as many hours as necessary to accomplish it. Employers must pay the non-exempt employee for every hour worked as they are paid by the hour.
When an employee is classified as a non-exempt employee, the employer must set up a time tracking system to ensure that the employee is legally paid for every hour worked and for overtime for every hour worked past 40. in one week, and more than 8 hours in one day in some states (Alaska, California, and Nevada) or 12 hours in Colorado. Note that this may differ from state to state and in countries worldwide.
