Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers can help you if you’re being punished for taking Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) leave in Minnesota. It’s hard enough just being in a situation where you have to take time off, but when your employer retaliates against you, it brings a whole other level of stress. We can make sure you understand what your options are and how to move forward. Set up a free consultation today.
Does a Lawyer Make Sense For Me?
Not every workplace issue involving sick and safe time turns into a lawsuit or even a claim. But retaliation is different. When your bosses or company actively target you because you used your earned sick and safe time or something similar, it obviously creates bigger problems—not just for you, but for everyone else in the workplace.
If that’s where you find yourself, it makes sense to get legal help from our team. We can sit down with you and:
- Explain how ESST applies to your situation
- Pull together all the important documents you’ll need
- Help you figure out if your employer’s actions really were retaliation
- Handle conversations with your employer and help you understand your options
- Guide you through a claim if your employer won’t correct the problem
Many workers in this situation aren’t even sure if what happened to them actually counts as retaliation. That’s understandable. Companies—through their HR and legal departments— aren’t going to just come out and say they’re punishing you. That leaves a lot of wiggle room and brings up the real question: what retaliation really is in this situation.
What ESST Retaliation Really Is
This is the big question and where a lot of the confusion comes in with ESST. Your right to that time is pretty clear. But the whole situation starts when you:
- Request or use earned sick and safe time
- Tell their employer they plan to use ESST
- Ask questions about their rights under the law
- Report concerns about ESST violations
Retaliation comes into play when your employer starts treating you differently because you used that leave time. It can be overt, like them firing you shortly after taking leave. But most of the time, it’s usually pretty subtle, like:
- Reducing your hours after you request or use ESST
- Giving you a negative performance review or discipline that seems connected to your leave
- Changing your schedule in a way that negatively affects you
- Treating you differently from coworkers after you take protected leave
- Creating a hostile work environment because you used earned sick and safe time
- Threatening or discouraging you from using the leave you earned
Timing matters a lot in these situations. The retaliation generally has to be close in time to you taking leave before it becomes an issue. The problem with that is obvious: your employer knows that. So, it’s not necessarily a question of what happened. It’s more a matter of putting puzzle pieces together.
Information That Can Help You Uncover ESST Retaliation
As personal as it feels, a situation where you’re being targeted and retaliated against for using ESST leave still takes pieces of information to show it’s actually happening. A good way to do that is to pull together things you probably already have, like:
- Copies of any requests you made, including emails, texts, forms, or messages through your employer’s scheduling system.
- Attendance records and schedules that can show when you requested leave, when you were absent, and whether your schedule changed afterward.
- Any write-ups, warnings, negative evaluations, or other disciplinary actions that came after you used ESST.
- Emails, texts, and messages with your bosses where your leave, attendance, or job performance is being talked about.
- Pay records that show changes in your hours, wages, or benefits after you used protected leave.
- Notes about what happened—important conversations, meetings, schedule changes, and other events—while they are still fresh.
- Coworkers who saw how you were treated before and after your leave may have important information.
You don’t need to have all of this before talking with us, or even all of this together to show that you’re being retaliated against. It’s more about having enough to show a pattern, and then we can fill in the gaps later.
Options For Filing an ESST Retaliation Claim
Being retaliated against at work for any reason is incredibly demoralizing, let alone for using legally protected ESST. Just being in a situation where you need to take that time is hard enough. Yet, when your employer goes the extra step of unlawful retaliation, you have options for dealing with it:
- Going directly to your employer. Sometimes the first step is bringing the issue to your employer’s attention. A conversation with your supervisor or HR may help if the situation is the result of a misunderstanding or something that hasn’t been dealt with properly. The ball is in your employer’s court at that point, and it’s on them to do the right thing from there. If that doesn’t happen, you can take further steps to protect yourself.
- File a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). The DLI handles retaliation complaints as it relates to workplace laws. Once you file, they can investigate whether your employer interfered with your rights or retaliated against you for using ESST.
- Filing a lawsuit. If the problem isn’t fixed, you might have to file a lawsuit against your employer in civil court. A retaliation claim, like others, gives you the chance at certain damages for your:
- Lost wages or benefits
- Other financial losses caused by your employer’s actions
- Attorney’s fees and court costs
- Other damages available under the law
There isn’t one right answer for every situation. Some people are able to take care of the issue by dealing with it internally. But most of the time, employers aren’t going to make things easy, especially if they’ve already done something that was retaliatory. The important thing is understanding what happened, knowing your rights, and figuring out what option makes the most sense for your situation.
Get Help With ESST Retaliation in Minnesota
Being retaliated against at work can leave you feeling frustrated, uncertain, and unsure about what to do next. But when it happens because you’re simply using earned sick and safe time, it’s all the more frustrating and upsetting.
At Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers, we’ll take the time to understand what happened, review the details of your situation, and help you figure out the best path forward for you. Set up a free consultation today and let us help you.
