Know Your Rights!

One fact that many new Americans do not know is that workers (ALL workers) in the United States have rights. The laws, both Federal and state, protect workers. Here are some basic rights:

Massachusetts Wage Act 

 

You must be paid for every hour you work, even if you quit or are fired. This applies to hours worked, tips, vacation pay, holiday pay and commissions. If you voluntarily leave your job, you must be paid in full on the next regular pay day. If you are laid off or fired, you must be paid in full on the day your employment ends.

 

Meal Breaks

  

If you work at least six hours a day, you are entitled to a 30 minute break. During your break you must be relieved of all duties and allowed to leave the premises. If you voluntarily elect to give up your meal break, you must be paid for the time worked.

Tips

 

You may be paid $3.00 an hour if you regularly receive tips of more than $20.00 per month, and only if those tips, when added to the $3.00 per hour, equal at least $9.00 per hour. Your tips are yours to keep. No employer, manager or boss may request or accept any part of your tips.

 

Minimum Wage 

 

Massachusetts’ minimum wage is $9.00 per hour.

 

Overtime

  

By law, employers are required to pay time-and-a-half if you work over 40 hours a week. For example, if you usually earn $9.00 per hour, you would be paid $13.50 per hour for each hour worked beyond 40 hours. 

If you think you are not being treated fairly, you have the right to seek legal advice.   
  
The Pioneer Valley Workers Center at 42 Gothic Street (downstairs from the Center for New Americans) helps people with questions about fair employment.

Interviewing Tips

Photo Credit: By Grey Geezer - CC - via Wikimedia Commons 

Here are some tips for having a successful interview.

• Always arrive on time. (Being late can lose you the job.  Being too early can, also.  IF you must be late, call the person with whom you are interviewing and explain the problem.  Things happen and a good employer should understand.)

• Remember that your interview starts before you arrive! (Pushing past someone on your way to the door, or driving unsafely into the parking lot in order to get a space, might be seen by your prospective employer, thus giving a bad first impression.)

• Don't fidget.  (Not only is it distracting to others when someone is always messing around with their hair or clothes, it makes the person doing it look unprofessional.)

• Stand up straight and look people in the eyes when you speak.  (In the US, standing/sitting straight and looking people in the eyes is a sign of confidence.)

• Give a firm handshake. (People, both men and women, in the US look for a firm handshake, not bone-crushing and not weak.)