r/WorkersRights

I’m from AZ (USA) I have over 40 hours of sick time. Multiple times my boss has denied my call out due to illness because the “store will be busy”. Even today, I possibly have COVID or the flu. I texted my boss to let him know I can’t come in and he said “tomorrow is the last day of school, the store will be busy. I need you to come in” What are my rights? Can I tell him “No.” ? Again, this has happened to me multiple times where I had to come into work very sick.

I’m trying to rebuild my life after getting pushed out of my job at FedEx Ground because of a toxic situation with coworkers. One guy in particular was spreading lies about me behind closed doors, and it turned the whole group against me. People I grew up with wouldn’t even look at me because of the narrative he created.

I wasn’t fired for performance. I wasn’t written up. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. It was all social politics and retaliation. And when you’re in a place like that, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good or bad person — they can take everything from you overnight.

I’ve been in survival mode ever since. No family support, no safety net, and trying to rebuild from zero. It’s hard to trust anything now because I’ve seen how fast stability can disappear.

I’m not looking for pity. I just want to hear from people who’ve been through something similar — losing a job because of toxic coworkers, losing stability overnight, having to rebuild alone. How did you get back on your feet mentally and financially when it felt like the rug got pulled out from under you?

Any advice or stories from people who’ve lived this would mean a lot.

I am a primary care physician working in a practice where my pay is based on productivity. I recently provided my employer with advance notice of my resignation as I have purchased a new practice. I was only required to give 60 days notice, but gave double that because I thought it would be helpful for the employer to be able to make arrangements for my departure (hiring new doctor, etc). However, today I was notified that I have been placed on “paid administrative leave” for the next 60 days. According to the notice, all restrictive covenants would be in place during this period. My understanding is that the upside to garden leave is that you get paid, but with my compensation structure, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid (with the exception of reimbursements for services previously rendered).

Can they do this? I can’t find anything about how this applies to non-salaried employees. There’s nothing in my employment contract that covers this— just restrictive covenants. For 60 days, they’re preventing me from working, while not paying me anything other than what I’m already owed. Trying to decide if I should just go ahead and quit, which in that case, I would not receive any reimbursements for past services effective immediately. Any insight appreciated!

Georgia, USA

I know this sub can be a bit brutal, but please be kind or at least as kind as you can be in your replies, as I am majorly struggling mentally at the moment.

**ETA: I struggle with anxiety and depression and have done for a long time, on and off. My symptoms fluctuate depending on my stress levels, and environment is a huge trigger for me. My workplace are aware of this.

Based in the UK.

Please excuse the long story -

Been with my company 3.5 years. I know this isn’t a particularly long tenure, but in my company and role, it is considered to be 😅

Had two weeks off work at the end of last year with severe work related stress - prior to this I have no history of long term / continuous or intermittent absences. I have literally worked through migraines, food poisoning, flu, everything. I have been available all hours of the day if anyone needs anything, often logging on over the weekends despite this not being a written expectation of my role but feeling pressured to due to a cultural expectation.

When I was absent, I did raise some concerns around wellbeing, lack of adequate line management (I now have a new line manager- what’s confusing is my line manager is someone different to who I provide support to) and worries around job security (I wouldn’t have been the only one to raise this). These were not addressed, and I wasn’t offered a return to work meeting when I came back.

Skip to January - returned after Christmas to find out that the person I work with (I am in business support) had removed the majority of my role from me and was now working with someone else. I literally have barely anything to do at work now. This was all discussed and agreed without any involvement from me. I have worked with this person continuously for over three years, and we had a good working relationship, this has severed it. I was told this was temporary due to business needs, but it’s now been nearly 6 months.

A lot has happened between then and now which has resulted in me raising a grievance. This was really scary and nerve wracking to do considering the nature of my role and the company - for context, I work closely to the leadership team and have seen others face retaliation when raising concerns etc. people mysteriously disappear and then a month or two later comms is sent out saying they have “stepped away” from the business.

I was persuaded by my cousin in law who is a judge and solicitor to raise this grievance based on what I shared with her- what has happened at work and how it is impacting me. In short, I mentioned things which she said could equate to bullying and harassment, role erosion, and potential breach of contract and discrimination. This gave me the confidence to raise the grievance but ofc still causing me anxiety whilst I wait for the investigation.

Went off sick in March again with work related stress and ended up being off for longer than I had planned, in total six weeks which I know could be considered an extended sickness absence. I am not someone who frilly nilly takes time off, and my working history can attest to that. I took the time because I was suffering with severe physical symptoms of stress and anxiety including chest pains, migraines, nausea, and insomnia and I couldn’t function day to day.

During my absence I received no check-ins from anyone at all. I had zero contact from my employer. I returned at the start of this week and met with my “line manager” who said he is happy I am back and happy to provide me with any support I might need - I have been advised by my GP to wfh as I phase back into work and he is happy with this. This made me feel supported and happy to return, but the underlying issues surrounding my wider role and working environment are still present (my line manager is not aware of the details as my grievance is confidential and doesn’t involve him).

Today I was told that I need to attend a sickness absence review meeting. I was told this applies to anyone who has more than two weeks off work but when I located the sickness absence policy, this conflicts with what is written. It also appears to be very formal and says things about absence being a cause for concern, capability dismissal and more. This has really worried me and I have asked for further clarification.

I want to be clear that I am more than capable of carrying out my role, my absence is directly caused by work related stress and anxiety which until my grievance has been heard and an outcome decided, I don’t see changing. That doesn’t mean that with reasonable adjustments (such as wfh, phased return) I can’t carry out my role.

I’m worried that because I raised a grievance I am facing some sort of retaliation where they are trying to set me up for dismissal based on capability. But as I said I am more than capable and what happened in January hadn’t happened - plus what followed over the last few months - none of this would be happening now.

Please any advice that is useful would be so appreciated. Thank you so much for reading.

I am on intermittent leave until fall this year. My cert is for 4 days off a week I am part time and never receive more than 4 days and had to call out and utilize fmla for about 3 weeks of scheduled shifts. I’m going in for a shift but they are now telling me I need to change my certification to continuous? which doesn’t feel right especially if I have not gone over any of the allowed time off each week and have been submitting every absence on Sedgwick which isn’t on auto approve they go through the pending process to be approved (each shift has been reviewed & approved) I checked the DOL website and they even have an example of my current situation and state employee is well within their rights and employer is actually interfering with my use of fmla. It should stay intermittent because this is the first time in a year I have had to take off that amount and will be going in for new schedules. I have already had to recertify last November and my doctor added additional time off per week from 2 days to my current 4 at that point.

How should I go about handling all of this? It feels like they want to push me out of my position. I went from 29 hrs a week to 5-10 for the past 3 weeks after I interviewed for a full time position in my department and idk something just feels off about how I’ve been treated at this new location so far. Transferred December and it hasn’t been a positive experience :(

So long story short I work for a corporation in FIFO and 3 weeks ago I was asked to stay an extra week, the only other person on swing with me was brand new to fifo and never worked in the industry in Australia before, my direct manager/supervisor asked me to work extra hours as minimum as possible because the new person was told that she would get a ‘buddy’ to train her through her first swing.

We agreed that for the first 2 and last 2 days of my extra swing I would do 2am-6am and 9am-9pm, sorta like a split shift.

On the last day specifically I had to work because a delivery came at 3.30am, site water got shut off at 4.30am and while I tried to call all my managers none were in contact as none were onsite and due to the early hours were asleep.

My logged hours were changed on the signing system we use to say I didn’t work the last 3 days at all and I have been spending the last couple of weeks chasing it up.

This morning I woke up to an email from my managers manager saying that I have breached the ‘fatigue policy’ and asked for proof that my direct manager specifically approved those days and hours, however this was a verbal conversation and not much is stopping anyone from making this a he said/ she said scenario.

Because of this I’m pretty sure I will get a written warning and at the very best case they won’t pay me for the extra hours but will pay me for the extra days that have proof of being asked to do.

The pay is split between the swing so the first half of the overtime has already been paid but the last 3 days fall on the next pay period (last weeks).

However my question is 1. Can they fire me for this? 2. If I take it to fair work can I get my overtime paid? 3. If they fire me, can it be contested against through fair work?

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked for the extra overtime but it’s what they asked of me and the situation had no other option because it’s not fair they keep scheduling new employees telling them they will be with someone all swing to be trained and then putting them on sites which doesn’t even have a manager onsite, let alone someone on the same shift as them. At the very least I want the 3 days they specifically asked me to work.

I would ask hr but as I recently found out the same people that schedule people and do payroll are also hr (which in my opinion is a red flag for a corporation and is making me rethink my employment) and this puts me in an uncomfortable situation as obviously they don’t want to get in trouble for 1. The rostering of new people with no manager 2. Putting me in a situation where overtime is unavoidable 3. Changing my hours that I have worked and logged.

This sucks. I no longer have work. I was hired as a contracted creative. I did everything under the sun to help a particular creator make untold amounts of money. My title was producer, but I basically acted as his personal assistant. I was available all times day and night to jump on projects with no lead time and tight schedules.

The working conditions were terrible. He told me explicitly that I had to answer his messages within 5 minutes. I told him this was unrealistic and his response was “you’re the only one that seems to have a problem with this.” My slack status had to be perfect. He was constantly on me and in my business.

Whatever, I shrug it off. I never miss a deadline and I work weekends, nights, whatever it takes.

This started to wear on me eventually. I couldn’t take it. The last straw was him constantly missing scheduled meetings. The worst of these times was when he messaged for an emergency meeting one night. I had my son’s soccer game, but I thought I could drive separately from my wife and come a little later (like a classic deadbeat dad in a 90s movie). I wait for our scheduled time and hear nothing… 30 minutes later he hits me with “sorry let’s cancel. Something came up.”

This wouldn’t usually bother me. Life happens. But it’s the fact I would literally lose my job if I was as neglectful with communication as he is. He would constantly not show up for calls.

I missed half my son’s game. “That’s it” I tell myself. I’m going to show him my contract.

I wasn’t an employee! No benefits, no safety. My contract HE GAVE ME explicitly details how I make my own schedule. As a contractor he gives me projects, and I determine when, where, in what manner they get done! He’s not employing me so I’m supposed to have certain freedoms. I bring this up and he acts so dumb…
“I’ve never read this.”
“Send me where it says that.”
And again;
“You’re the only one that has a problem with this.”

I send him the contract he signed, as well as specific lines from that contract. It’s incredibly clear. The contract is legal, but the way he treats me is a serious misclassification.

“I’ll take a look and see what we can put together.” He tells me.

And what do you know, that’s the last I really hear from him. Ghosted. I’m not getting paid and have no work so I follow up. He says my “conditions” (the terms in HIS contract) “defeat the purpose of my role.” He says he has nothing for me. Just like that. Three kids, and because I try to defend my sanity with terms in his own contract, I get kicked to the curb.

And that’s it. A year of going out of my way to make this gig work. Trying so hard not to lose it. In the end I can’t help but feel this is just how he works. Takes advantage of people and I’m the sucker that fell for it.

I imagine I have at least a basic legal case here but I have zero interest or money right now for that.

Just need to vent. I’m losing hope there are people I can work for that will respect me or even just allow me to do my work.

The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters endorses Platner.

Platner: “Power in society comes from two places, organized money or organized people and we all know that the money is organized and it has bought our political system.”

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (area)

First i’ll state that this an alt account for anonymity reasons.

Just for some background, I’m a 30 y/o male working in a machine/factory related industry. The company I work for is relatively new (6 years of business), however we are rapidly expanding in terms of area and profit.

I’ve had lower back pain the majority of my life. I developed scoliosis at a young age, played sports my whole adolescence, and have worked hard manual labor for a good portion of my adulthood.

In November my back pain got incredibly out of control, developing new symptoms than I had experienced up until this point. Long story short I had two herniated discs as well as other findings, and just had an operation to correct these issues this past week. I will be off 4-6 weeks minimum before returning to light duty for several more weeks until cleared to physically perform my work tasks.

My employer has been well aware of these back pain related troubles since November, and understood that surgery may be an outcome down the line (albeit sooner than expected). I had been told over and over again that I would be “taken care of” when it came to needing time off for said surgery. This is still somewhat of a ma and pa type ran business. While we do have great insurance, there is no official HR department, no liaison or anybody to oversee circumstances like this.

A month ago when I found out I was to have surgery, conversations were had about how to move forward. I was told initially I could be temporarily laid off to then collect unemployment. Shady? Sure, considering our profits are through the roof and an audit would show no immediate need for downsizing/lack of work. Coming closer to my surgery, even the week leading up to, no more discussions were had nor written documents provided. In hindsight I’m well aware I should have found a way to get something in writing, but at a “family run” business where we’re all very close, I didn’t think I’d have to worry.

Today I received my paystub, and the only hours paid were the one day I had worked on the pay period, my entire allotted PTO bank, as well as a $1,000 non compete contract bonus that I haven’t officially signed. Altogether the final take home was considerably less than what I make in a 2-week period.

I called my supervisor, who is a friend of mine and acted as the middle man for all of this dialogue, to essentially be given the run around. I was told there were more conversations had about other colleagues donating PTO for me to be paid, as well as the temporary layoff solution still up in the air.

I’m sorry for the long winded post. I’m not sure how to go about this and have nobody reputable to vent to on the subject. Thank you in advanced.

TL:DR - Out of work post back surgery, uncompensated by employer when told multiple times I’d receive pay for missed hours

I actually made a post a week ago about how bad my current job is on this subreddit. Well I’m back.

I have been working at a large retailer since February. And not going to lie I’ve hated every minute of it. Today, I found out that one of my managers had forged my signature and pretended to be me.

As I’m new to the job, new staff are required to have a 30 day, 60 day, and 90 day review. After almost two months of being there, I have not had any of my reviews yet.

Today I get called into the office, for my 90 day review. I was quite confused as I hadn’t had my 30 day or 60 day review yet. I sat down and my team leader said to me something along the lines of, “obviously you’ve had you’re 30 day review” I said “oh no I haven’t, I haven’t had any of my reviews”. He proceeds to say that I have, and showed me the sheet which has different boxes along the lines of what are my strengths, weaknesses, and where can I improve, which is something I’m supposed to fill out myself.

I noticed that everything was filled in, including my signature.

I explained how I hadn’t filled any of this in, and that I hadn’t wrote my signature, suggesting that someone else had done it for me. He then said something along the lines of how my manager may have quickly filled it all in, which all happened during the time our store was due for an audit.

My guess is that they hadn’t completed my 30/60 day review in time, and quickly filled out the information with what they thought was correct and signed it so they wouldn’t get in trouble.

Not gonna lie, I’m actually fuming, and I don’t know what to do about it. If they wanted to fire me, they could use what they wrote against me as I supposedly wrote it and signed for it, when I absolutely didn’t.

Who should I talk to?

Hey everyone, I just need a space to vent a little and hopefully hear from others who've been through something similar.

We have a PCS coming up, and as most of you know, that means uprooting everything. I've been working for the county as a project manager and genuinely love my job. When I found out we'd be relocating to a pretty rural area with limited local opportunities in my field, I submitted a request for a remote work exemption, thinking it was a reasonable ask given the circumstances.

I got denied.

I'm honestly still processing it. I put together what I thought was a solid case. Our move is military-ordered, the area we're heading to doesn't have many options in my field, and my work is the kind that can absolutely be done remotely. It felt like it didn't matter. Like the fact that my wife serves and that we don't exactly get a say in where we go or when just… wasn't a factor.

It's one of those moments where the weight of this lifestyle hits differently. You sacrifice so much as a military spouse, your career included, and sometimes it feels like the world outside this community doesn't really get that.

For those of you who've faced something similar:

- Did you appeal the decision and if so did it work?

- Did you end up finding work in your field after a PCS to a rural area?

- Are there remote government or PM roles you'd recommend looking into?

- How did you cope with the career disruption emotionally?

I'm trying to stay hopeful and practical but today is a hard day. Any advice, solidarity, or success stories would mean a lot 💙

Hi everyone

Need urgent legal advice on the matter

I am working for a SaaS based company, in the software testing space. My girlfriend who was earlier part of the same company recently joined a competitor in this space.

Today, my company has terminated my contract, stating that there is a "conflict of interest" and alleged that I am leaking their data to my girlfriend.

Upon asking, if they have any proof - they stated that your girlfriend is performing really well over there and we have a hunch stating that you are passing the data to her.

They clearly don't have any solid proof to state this.

Warming me that they'll file a legal case against me - which is something I really want at this point as I have not done any data breaches.

What should/ could be my next steps.

1. I need severance pay as I have not resigned rather they have terminated my contract.

My employer is based in West Delhi (registered LLP). I worked for them remotely from UP. They have not paid my salary of around two months post my forced resignation for work performed.
SAMADHAN closed my case saying employer falls under Delhi state jurisdiction under Payment of Wages 2019.

I cannot travel to Delhi. Is there any way to file a complaint with Delhi Labour Department completely online?

I have already:
Emailed lc-delhi@nic.in and labjlc2@nic.in
Called 155214 — they took details verbally
Filed on CPGRAMS

Is there an online portal for Delhi state labour complaints? Or any other way to formally file without physical presence?

Hello lovely ladies of the boob board! I’m hoping someone can offer some non cancer advice.

I was just let go, right at the end of my probation period in a new job. My boss had previously said that they’d taught me all the tasks but not the processes so I was on the back foot from day one. (And the other ‘trainer’ was borderline abusive….and not to just me, apparently). They’ve been clearly not nuts about the medical situation. I tried to keep the appts down but some I couldn’t avoid. I was always in early, and left late. Often skipped lunch. And I was finally on top of all the tasks, even the abusive stuff. But I couldn’t miss the appointments. And my bone density test last week shows ‘significant loss of bone density in the lumbar spine’ which I’d told my boss about (she’s a survivor (skin cancer) and seemed supportive). It shows low risk of fracture, but it’s a bit of a blow.

I’m in probation so I could be screwed. But I really feel like this was impacted by my cancer. I was open from day one, and the facial expressions were less than warm and fuzzy. I’ve been very open….maybe too open.

18 mos of cancer and no salary or benefits has kicked my ass in the finances. Honestly, I didn’t like the job, but I feel like this was unfair, and prejudicial around the cancer. Anyone have any tips or suggestions? Be gentle - if it’s just ‘yeah, you’re screwed’ be nice about it. I’m a little tender. 😬

I injured my finger at work in December of last year 2025 I didn’t realize I could file an injury report until I talked to someone who knew what they were talking about, so I filed an injury report in February 2026. My GM told me to go to an urgent care and he will talk to the owner about either insurance covering it or that the owner will foot the bill.

I went to the urgent care on 3 separate occasions because the first time they told me it was mallet finger (incorrectly) and they forgot to give me a splint. I wore the splint for 6 weeks as directed because it was sprained, but then after the splint has come off my finger is still hurting and crooked. Went back to the urgent care for the third time and a different doctor told me that the original x-rays the first doctor took were very poor and she can’t see my injury. She was pretty upset for me because I paid so much already and basically got no recovery on my finger. I think she laid into the original doctor too lol. I’m afraid my finger might just be permanently damaged, but I really hope not.

Anyway, the new doctor recommended a hand specialist because it’s out of her ability to help. The owner is saying that he will only pay for half of the original doctor’s bill since I waited too long to file an injury report. So basically he will only pay $95.

It is now May and he still hasn’t payed me. I have already paid about $300 for the urgent care visits and now I have to pay even more out of pocket to go see a hand specialist and I’m struggling to afford it.

I’m 25 and not well versed on the subject and I work delivering pizzas. Can I file for workers compensation to have the owner pay for all of my medical expenses and should I gather all of the medical bills to keep as a record? I read that in the state of Michigan a work injury can be paid for up to two years, but I’m not really sure.

Any help would be great, thank you.

A Greedy Corporation. A Labor Union. A mob of stressed out Employees. A dysfunctional Family. A Taco Truck. And an Alligator who thinks she’s an Iguana. What could go wrong?

http://library.biblioboard.com/content/7fa9dc6a-2c46-478a-8d11-6e1e04048b69

I have a complicated situation with an umbrella company....
firstly they gave me the incorrect advise about when I would need to be paid via PAYE to claim SMP. Owing to this they ' honoured ' the payments for the first 6 weeks, I am now due to be paid the lower amount of SMP however they have emailed to say the company has gone into liquidation.. there is no evidence of this however if you goggle the company name. I have contacted the HMRC disputes team who have said they haven't even registered that I am on maternity pay. They've also said I need the liquidator practitioner / reference details which I have emailed the company for and have had no reply despite emails and texts. I don't know what to do now really hmrc said I could possibly apply for maternity benefits but that will take a long time, is there anyone that could help me get what I'm owed from the umbrella company? Any advise would be appreciated

(floridian here) I recently started as a server at a local restaurant and it’s been horrible to say the least. there’s 0 managers, only the owner who barely speaks english and has no restaurant experience. Anyways, it’s my second week and he already has me training a new server (the ONLY other server in the whole restaurant). he said since we had 2 servers, the to-go/ host person could leave. Then he made me do all of the to-gos for my whole shift. i ended up only making $12 in dine in tips and asked at the end of the night when i’d get the to-go tips i’d just spent my whole shift earning. he said they all get split between kitchen staff. then i looked at the kitchen staff and they all shook their heads “no”. i’m basically just wondering; where do i go from here? i know i can file a report to someone but im just wondering if im overreacting about this?
This is a draft of the message im debating sending. i know it sounds unprofessional but thats literally the only way to get him to take anything seriously, according to other staff.

“Hey, sorry to text so late but i just wanted to let you know that i will not be doing to-gos if im not compensated for it. i only made $12 tonight and ran all of the to-go’s my whole shift. when customers i’ve a tip, to go or not, they expect the tip to go to the person they’re tipping. I can either do serving and make tips or do togos and make more hourly, but i’m not doing the job of 2 people and getting paid for 1.”

I broke my arm outside of work, I have turned in all my documents and doctors notes. I have surgery scheduled , but still scared of being terminated. A employee for over two years, never had to take time off like this before and I hear stories about wrongful termination all the time…

View Poll