When Do I Contact a Labor and Employment Lawyer in Big Pine Key, FL?

Employment attorneys provide clients with several services to help them fight back against illegal labor practices in the workplace. Labor & employment lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL handle workplace disputes that cover a wide range of legal issues.

Let’s review what employment lawyers do in the Sunshine State.

Explain Your Rights

A vast majority of workers in Florida and throughout the United States do not understand the rights granted to them by state and federal labor statutes. Far too many employers keep their workers in the dark when it comes to educating them about the rights they have in the workplace. Even if an employer explains labor rights in an employee manual, the employer is not obligated to discuss the labor rights verbally to inform workers about employment statutes at the state and federal levels.

An employment lawyer also discusses your rights and the best options to take advantage of those rights under Florida and federal employment statutes.

File a Complaint

As one of the federal government agencies responsible for enforcing federal labor laws, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) addresses the complaints filed by American workers. For most labor disputes, workers must file a complaint with the EEOC before filing a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages for one or more violations of state and/or federal employment statutes. Working with one of the Morgan & Morgan labor & employment lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL helps you file the most persuasive EEOC complaint against your employer.

Negotiate a Settlement

When you consider legal representation, you are considering the hiring of a lawyer who does more than litigate civil cases in front of a judge. The best labor & employment lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL are skilled negotiators. Negotiating a settlement for an employment law case allows you to avoid the often costly and time-consuming litigation process. Your Florida-licensed labor attorney has several opportunities to negotiate a favorable settlement, from the start of a civil trial to the discovery phase of the litigation process.

Legal Representation During Litigation

The experienced labor & employment lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL at Morgan & Morgan represent clients during the trial phase of the litigation process. We handle every type of labor dispute, including discrimination and wrongful termination cases, as well as disputes that arise because of wage and hour violations. If you take a labor dispute to the trial phase of the litigation process, you want an experienced attorney in your corner to provide legal support.

Florida has implemented several laws that protect employees in the workplace. Many of the laws passed at the state level follow the legal precedents established by federal law or strengthen the legal guidelines set by the United States Congress.

Wrongful Termination

Like a majority of states, Florida operates under the at-will employment legal principle. At-will employment means both workers and employers can end an employment relationship at any time and for just about any reason. One of the few exceptions to the at-will employment doctrine concerns discrimination in the workplace. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, your employer commits wrongful termination when it involves one or more acts of discrimination. Title VII prohibits employers from discrimination against workers because of factors such as race, gender, religion, and national origin. In 1992, Florida passed a law that expanded the protections granted by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers in the Sunshine State cannot fire workers because of pregnancy and marital status.

Wage and Hour

The federal minimum wage has remained the same for several years at $7.25 an hour. Like many states, Florida has taken into consideration economic factors such as inflation when increasing the minimum wage above what the federal government has established. As of January 2022, Florida has set the minimum wage for workers at $11.00 per hour. Because Florida is a state that relies on the hospitality industry for generating tax revenue, it is important to note that tipped employees must receive a minimum wage of $7.98 an hour plus tips. Both the hospitality and non-hospitality minimum wages are set to increase annually.

Being proactive is the key to knowing when to contact one of the best labor  & employment lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL. Waiting to get legal support can make the difference between holding your employer responsible for violating state and federal labor statutes and losing out on the compensation that you deserve.

The first step to take when trying to resolve a labor dispute is to discuss the issues with your manager or a human resources specialist. You should contact a Florida-licensed employment attorney if you experience harassment and/or discrimination in the workplace. Harassment involves subtle actions such as verbal insults to overt threats of physical violence. You can face a wide variety of discriminatory acts that include being passed over for a promotion and exclusion from company social events.

If your employer retaliated against you in any way, you should contact one of the Morgan & Morgan labor and employment lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL. Seeking legal support immediately after being illegally terminated gives you a better chance of getting the justice you deserve. Waiting to take legal action can hurt your case for several reasons, from diminishing the impact of witness statements to failing to take legal action before the expiration of the Florida statute of limitations, which is two years from the incident.

Hiring the best labor & employment lawyer in Big Pine Key, FL requires you to consider several factors. At Morgan & Morgan, we meet the following criteria to provide the legal support our clients need to fight back against employment law violations.

Proven Record of Success

When you interact with prospective employment attorneys, you can expect to hear the word “experience” used to describe professional credentials. Although the number of years an attorney has practiced employment law matters, having accumulated an impressive record of success matters more if you expect your employer to be held accountable for violating one or more employment statutes.

Specializes in Your Type of Employment Law

At Morgan & Morgan, we emphasize the importance of assigning our lawyers to the right types of employment law cases. For example, if your employer fails to pay you overtime wages, you should consider an attorney who specializes in handling overtime cases. Morgan & Morgan not only offers the most experienced employment attorneys of any law firm in Florida, but we also match you with a litigator who specializes in litigating your type of employment law case.

Full Legal Representation

When you meet with an employment attorney for the first time, you want the lawyer to represent you during every phase of the litigation process. Unfortunately, far too many employment lawyers delegate many legal responsibilities to paralegals and less experienced litigators. When you hire an experienced labor attorney from Morgan & Morgan, you can expect the lawyer to support you from the day of the free case evaluation to the day when we resolve your case.

Responsive Communicator

The attorney you hire to represent you during an employment law case must be there for you whenever you need answers to questions or simply clarifications for complex legal issues. This means your legal counsel must promptly respond to emails, as well as text and phone messages. Litigating an employment law case can cause a considerable amount of concern. Do not allow an unresponsive employment attorney to compound that concern by being unresponsive to your different forms of communication.

Client Feedback

Client feedback, such as the reviews left on sites such as Yelp and Google, can provide you with keen insight into the professional credentials of an employment attorney. At Morgan & Morgan, we have received an overwhelming number of positive reviews left by our clients, with an emphasis on our honesty, integrity, and transparency. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has awarded Morgan & Morgan a reputation rating of A+ based on the reviews left by our clients.

Schedule a free case evaluation today with one of the highly-rated Morgan & Morgan lawyers in Big Pine Key, FL.