Know your rights: It’s the only way to defend them

Rights belong to those who defend them. Sad, isn’t it? Nobody wants to go to court to claim what should be theirs by law. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in. 

The first step to defending one’s rights is to know what they are. But labor and employment laws can make a confusing thicket. In Chicago there are no fewer than 11 agencies – municipal, state and federal – charged with enforcing workers’ legal rights. The group Arise Chicago has published a manual authored by Ann Marie Castleman and Jennifer Barger that outlines workers’ legal rights under the prevailing laws, as well as how to fight when those rights are infringed. On Fridays I’ll be publishing excerpts from it.

First, the basics.

All workers have a legal right to the following: 

• Payment according to the law for their work.
• A safe and healthy work environment.
• The opportunity to organize a union or work together for change.
• The exercise of their rights and the ability to report violations without retaliation.
• The opportunity to testify of behalf of other workers exercising their workplace rights.
• Compensation for medical bills and lost work time incurred from workplace injuries.
• Freedom from discrimination in hiring, firing and discipline.
• Unpaid leave for medical reasons or to care for a spouse, parent or child. (Certain requirements must be met for this law to apply.)