Plaintiff-Side Employment Law

Plaintiff-side employment law typically includes employment law from the standpoint of employees. In the vast majority of labor law and employment law disputes the plaintiff in a lawsuit or arbitration is an employee. For this reason, most plaintiff-side employment lawyers represent employees in these disputes. Employees seeking a Colorado employment lawyer likely wants to find a law firm that practices plaintiff-side employment law. These attorneys often work as an employee rights lawyer in Denver.

What does plaintiff-side employment law in Colorado include?

Federal and Colorado employment law covers both employers and employees although it recognizes the different roles in the employment relationship. For example, wrongful termination laws apply to both employers and employees but generally establish claims for employees only. Although employees generally are the only parties who can pursue wrongful termination claims, these laws also apply to employers in their role within the employment relationship. Some employment laws establish specific responsibilities for employers and employees but these laws still cover both sides of the Colorado employment relationship.

Employee rights lawyer in Denver, Colorado

From a plaintiff’s perspective employment lawyers generally are most concerned with how these laws apply to employees. Most often that means the claims, remedies and procedures available to pursue employers when employers violate these laws. Employment laws typically protect employee rights within the workplace and give them remedial procedures when employers violate those rights. An employee rights lawyer in Denver usually focuses on these violations and how to help employees seek remedies. Defense-side employment lawyers, by contrast, help employers with compliance issues under those laws and defending against employee claims.

Employment laws in Colorado

Plaintiff-side employment laws establish rights and protections that apply to many of the important aspects of the employee’s side of the employment relationship. These include:

• The freedom to apply for jobs and work free from unlawful forms of employment discrimination
• The right to receive paychecks in a timely manner
• The right to receive minimum wage and overtime pay unless exempt by law
• The right to family and medical leave for protected reasons
• Protections for many employee benefit plans from employer mismanagement and abuse
• The right to cooperate with coworkers and unionize
• The freedom to enter into employment contracts that stipulate pay and work conditions
• Freedom for many employees from employers firing employees for off-duty activities
• The right to oppose many unlawful employment activities of employers

These rights and protections are not a full list and many come with exceptions, exemptions and other qualifications. If you believe your employer violated your rights in the Colorado workplace then you should talk to an employee rights lawyer in Denver, Colorado right away. Many plaintiff-side employment laws require employees to act in particular times or manner to pursue claims.