If you experience wage discrimination on the job, you may feel helpless and wonder what you can do. In fact, you may even just let it slide each time. However, when you constantly experience this form of discrimination, you should act quickly. One of the things you should do is contact an employment discrimination lawyer in Austin for legal assistance. After reviewing your situation, your attorney will determine if you have a discrimination case and that you can file a claim for compensation. When you deal with wage discrimination in the workplace, here are tips that you can consider:
Gather Evidence
After you realize the mistakes in your wages were intentional or discriminatory, you must start collecting evidence. This evidence includes documentation that a worker who does the same work as you gets paid more or promoted faster. Ensure that you collect only information you are legally allowed to access. Digging to the point of breaking the policy of your company will just hurt your case. Often, you will need to collect information such as an offer letter, a pay stub, job descriptions, performance evaluations, and email chains.
Speak with your Boss or HR
Talk to your employer about your wage issues if you think they don’t have to do with it. Otherwise, you must speak with someone from HR. Hopefully, your employer or HR realizes the issue and performs a wage audit to determine if this is occurring across the board.
Start an Investigation
Who you will want to start the investigation will depend on the way you prefer to handle wage discrimination. You can file a complaint with the EEOC which will notify your company. But, going this route can take a while. An alternative is to hire an attorney to deal with your discrimination case. Your case may be worth pursuing when there is substantial evidence.
Settle the Case or File a Lawsuit
Your employment contract will determine whether you can settle your discrimination case outside of the courtroom. In some instances, settling is your only choice due to an arbitration agreement. However, without this agreement, you can take your case to court.
If you prefer to go to court, your lawyer can inform you of the legalities under which you can sue. Usually, this may be both the Title VII or Equal Pay Act. But, keep in mind that such cases can take a long time to resolve, possibly affecting your work-life balance. And you are still employed by the same boss, you may need to deal with issues in your workplace.
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