Not everyone loves their employer or work environment, which can make small issues feel like major violations. Other times, illegal behavior or other misconduct creates an unbearable workplace. When you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, you have the right to speak up, as long as you’re reporting discriminatory or illegal actions.

Whether your employer discriminated against you or you’re reporting unfair treatment you witnessed, filing a complaint must be taken seriously. What happens if HR ignores your workplace complaint? 

Understand the Laws and Know When Your Rights Were Violated 

Before you go to HR, verify that your rights were violated. Sometimes, people feel they have a valid workplace complaint, but they actually don’t. They may not be illegal, unethical, or unsafe situations that violate California laws. For example:

• Additional Assigned Work: Getting handed additional work outside your job description isn’t illegal unless the new duty is an illegal act. Your boss can add answering phones to your work duties. Your boss couldn’t ask you to collect a competitor’s bills and shred them.
• Frustrating Workers: You cannot file a complaint against a co-worker because you find their tone annoying when they talk to customers. They must be actively harassing you or creating an unsafe work environment.
• Other Departments Get Weekly Perks and You Don’t: As upsetting as it may be to see accounting get a weekly pizza party, no laws are being broken by excluding your department.

You must have a valid employment discrimination or harassment complaint. California’s Civil Rights Department enforces anti-discrimination laws for job applicants or employees. It must be one of the following protected categories.

• Age
• Ancestry/National Origin
• Color/Race
• Disability (Mental or Physical)
• Gender Identity/Gender Expression
• Genetic Information
• Marital Status
• Medical Condition
• Military/Veteran
• Religion
• Reproductive Health Decision-Making
• Sex/Gender (Includes breastfeeding, childbirth, and pregnancy)
• Sexual Orientation

Why HR May Not Take Action

You’re sure your rights were violated and filed a complaint. Why hasn’t your human resources department acted? There could be many reasons. 

• Favoritism towards management and supervisors
• Insufficient evidence
• Lack of compliance with company reporting policies
• Poor internal communications
• Rushed investigation
• Trying to minimize company liability

When it comes to employee complaints, HR protects the company. A union protects you, but fewer than 15% of California’s employees are union members. If you’re not unionized, you need proof of wrongdoing that the HR department must take seriously. 

If you didn’t follow company complaint guidelines, HR’s hands are tied. They should tell you about the mistake, but that’s not guaranteed. Make sure you report violations to your union steward, if you have one, or through other applicable channels, such as a third-party negotiation team.

Keep Records of Everything

The most important thing you can do to build a complaint that’s hard to ignore is to document everything. Don’t keep it stored on company servers. It’s too easy for things to go missing. Save copies on an external drive, such as a flash drive, and print copies.

As you record and document as much as you can, make sure you’re storing it in a safe place. Your desk isn’t good enough. Bring them home or give them to a family member to store in a safe.

 Start by checking your employee handbook to see how to file a formal complaint. Is there an online form, an email contact, or do you need to bring a letter in person? Follow the rules when you submit your formal complaint.

For documentation, include the following:

• Copies of any emails, text messages, chat transcripts, or handwritten notes
• Dates and times of the events
• Factual details of the event
• Locations and settings
• Names, dates, and times of any contact you made with supervisors, managers, or HR personnel
• Witness names

Follow-Up in Writing 

You followed the instructions outlined in your employee manual. You’ve waited two weeks, and nothing’s happened. Follow up in writing. Again, keep copies. 

Maintain a polite tone. You want to show you’ve been patient, maintained a friendly environment on your side, and given them no reason to say your attitude is a problem. 

Bypass Your Human Resources Department

If nothing has happened after your initial complaint and follow-up, it’s time to escalate. Go outside the HR department. You should also bypass HR when: 

• You’re experiencing retaliation or being threatened with job loss.
• Your complaint has been mishandled.
• Your HR is actively taking steps to protect senior executives and leaders.

Retaliation is always possible, though we’d hope your employer knows it’s also illegal. Whistleblowing is a protected act. You’re allowed to call out illegal or criminal behaviors at work without getting in trouble for doing so.

If you file a complaint and experience behaviors like these, it’s time to take external action.

• Management and/or co-workers treat you negatively and make it hard to go to work.
• You lose your job.
• You’re demoted to a lower position.
• You’re denied benefits, a raise, or a promotion you were qualified for, while other employees still received them.
• You’re transferred to another branch or office without your approval.

Take External Action

If you have to escalate things, you have two main options. You can file a complaint with the EEOC or California Civil Rights Department or talk to an employment attorney. You have to do so within three years of the date of the last harmful incident in California. This is the longest statute of limitations, so it’s advisable to file with the state. 

The deadline for Equal Pay Act violations is two years, unless you can prove it was willful, in which case it’s three years.

You can file an online complaint with the California Civil Rights System (CCRS). You’re welcome to schedule or reschedule appointments, upload files to your complaint, and pause filing for up to 30 days if you need more time to gather information. You can also file by mail, over the phone, or in person.

You can also file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC. It’s the first step before you file a job discrimination lawsuit. You can file online, by phone, by mail, or in person. Deadlines are shorter with the federal government. You have 180 days from the last day the event occurred, but it’s extended to 300 days if your state also enforces that type of discrimination.

The deadline is shorter for federal government employees. They must file the complaint within 45 days. State government workers often must file whistleblowing complaints within a year, and wrongful termination complaints within 6 months.

 No matter what is going on, don’t quit your job. Talk to an attorney specializing in employment law. You don’t want to quit and lose benefits or severance you’re entitled to.

How Shegerian Conniff’s Employment Attorneys Help

 Shegerian Conniff’s employment lawyers and attorneys are experts in California’s labor laws and issues that qualify as unfair treatment in the workplace. They bring expertise that you may not possess. They do everything possible to get you a fair settlement or award by:

• Listening to you.
• Looking at the evidence you’ve gathered.
• Helping draft formal complaints.
• Gathering evidence and questioning witnesses.
• Building a solid complaint.
• Fighting for you in court, if it becomes necessary.

Case evaluations are free, so there’s no risk in reaching out for advice. Fill out the online form to arrange a free consultation.