A Rhode Island Employment law lawyer can help you fight back against your employer for violating one or more state and/or federal laws.
Whether the legal issue involves discrimination during an interview or retaliation in the workplace, your attorney is there to ensure your employer does not take advantage of you. A Rhode Island employment law attorney might decide to file or claim to seek just compensation or try to negotiate a favorable settlement that allows you to stay out of a Rhode Island courtroom.
What Does a New Rhode Island Employment Law Lawyer Do?
An employment law lawyer in Rhode Island counterbalances the legal muscle that your employer uses for an employment law case. Your attorney explains all of your rights granted by state and federal law, which can include filing a claim that seeks monetary damages.
Filing a claim requires the submission of convincing evidence, such as a copy of your employee manual and wage records that display your compensation.
Employment law attorneys in Rhode Island must decide whether to file a claim with the Rhode Island Commission for Human rights (NHCHR) or the federally run Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Which of the two government agencies your lawyer decides to file an employment law claim with depends on which government agency applies the strongest protections for workers. For example, since Rhode Island has a higher minimum wage than what is set at the federal level, an employment law attorney can get more compensation for a client by filing a claim with the NHCHR.
The types of compensation for employment law cases vary depending on the issue a worker experienced in the workplace. For our minimum wage example, filing a successful claim with the NHCHR can get a worker back pay for the difference between the state minimum wage ($11.50) and the federal minimum wage ($7.25).
If the employer owes the worker 40 hours of back pay for violating Rhode Island minimum wage law, then the NHCHR might award the worker $170 in back pay.
What Types of Claims Does a Rhode Island Employment Law Attorney Handle?
Submitting a Rhode Island employment law claim with the NHCHR should address one or more workplace violations. The type of claim that you submit depends on the type of workplace violation(s).
Here are the common reasons why workers file employment law claims in Rhode Island:
- Privacy rights
- Poor workplace safety
- Wage theft
- Retaliation
- Discrimination
- Workers’ compensation
All employers in Rhode Island must provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage for their employees, regardless of the size of the company or the type of work completed by employees. Workers’ comp protects employees that suffer illnesses and injuries in the workplace.
However, some employers try to avoid paying out for workers’ compensation insurance because of a possible increase in insurance rates. If your employer has failed to protect you with workers’ compensation coverage, you have the right to recover the cost of one or more of the following financial hits.
- Long-term care
- Lost income
- Treatments
- Rehabilitation regimen
- Diagnostic tests
How Much Does an Employment Law Attorney in Rhode Island Cost?
An hourly rate for a Rhode Island employment law attorney can run as high as $500 per hour, but that is for cases that require a substantial amount of litigation.
You are better off working with an employment lawyer who charges a fixed fee on a contingency basis. A contingency fee arrangement means an attorney gets paid when the client gets paid. Let’s say someone received just compensation of $40,000 for an employment law violation.
If the lawyer litigating the case receives 20 percent off the top of the financial award, then the attorney earns $8,000. The 20 percent used in our example represents the lower end of what a Rhode Island employment law lawyer charges for a fixed contingency fee.
How Do I Find an Employment Law Attorney in Rhode Island?
The Rhode Island Bar Association provides residents with a large database of attorneys that work in every legal specialty. Easy to use, all you have to do is type in a few parameters to get a list of potential lawyers to handle your case.
You should hire an employment law attorney in Rhode Island who specializes in handling your type of employment law case. An attorney who handles just workplace discrimination cases might not be the ideal lawyer for a case that involves minimum wage violations.
Schedule a free case evaluation today with a Rhode Island employment law lawyer to fight back against your employer for committing and/or tolerating one or more workplace violations.
