According to certain reports, there is only a small percentage of employees who report or ask for help from authorities in order to solve their problems. Many of the cases of wrongful termination therefore are not reported.
Fortunately, in order to address this kind or predicament which affects many workers all over the nation, the government has created agencies that are assigned solely to defend and accommodate employee concerns. One such agency is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC.
The EEOC was created on July 2, 1965, and works hand in hand with California employment laws. This independent federal law enforcement agency seeks to create a productive atmosphere for both workers and company owners. This is the exact opposite of what discrimination creates, which is a hostile environment that impedes the personal and career growth of employees.
Nonetheless, for a company to be under the jurisdiction of the EEOC, it needs first to fulfill the following requirements:
· The company needs to have more than 15 employees
· The company needs to have at least 20 employees to be able to file for an age discrimination charge
· The employee must be a part of the labor union
· The employee is also under other government agencies
More than this, the EEOC states that wrongful termination has occurred if employees were subjected to any of these premises:
· Refusal to do an illegal action – The worker has been fired from his or her job because he or she said no towards an illegal act that the owner or company officials wanted him or her to do.
· Employer fails to follow the employee handbook – The employer can be accused of wrongful termination if he or she did not follow the guidelines written within the company’s own handbook.
· Retaliation – The employer fired an employee because the latter had participated in an investigation regarding anomalous acts within the company.