Working while you’re in college is a good way to earn some extra cash and take some of the financial pressure off. It’s also a great way to meet new people and expand your social circle. Having a job at college isn’t about finding your ideal career, it’s just about finding a side job to make a little extra money and most of the time, it’s probably not going to be a job that you love.
That’s fine and everybody has to work jobs that they’re not particularly happy with, but it doesn’t matter as long as you’re in a safe working environment and you’re getting paid on time. But what if you aren’t in a safe working environment? Employers have a responsibility to make sure that your working environment is safe and there aren’t any dangers to staff. Unfortunately, not all employers will uphold their end of the bargain and you might find yourself working in an unsafe workplace. So, what should you do?
Make A Claim
If it’s already too late and you’ve been injured as a result of working in that unsafe environment, you need to make a claim against your employer and get some compensation from them. Find yourself a good personal injury lawyer and explain your situation to them. They’ll be able to tell you whether you have a case or not. Before you do this, it’s important that you get photographic evidence of the areas that you think are unsafe. If your employer finds out that you’re making a claim, they’ll quickly start fixing all of the problems and you won’t have any evidence to make a claim with.
Hopefully, it hasn’t got that far yet and you can still do something about it before somebody ends up getting hurt.
Refuse To Do Dangerous Jobs
Refusing to do something that your employer asks of you doesn’t seem like a sensible idea but you have a legal right to do that if it’s going to put you in danger in some way. Don’t take risks and think that it’ll probably be fine because it might not be. Just explain to your boss that you’re not happy doing whatever task it is because it’s not safe. Often, this is enough for them to realize that they need to spend more time keeping the place safe and they might start making some changes.
Contact The Authorities
If you’ve explained to them that the place isn’t safe and you don’t feel comfortable working there and they’re still not willing to make any changes, you need to take it over their heads. The department of labor deal with any employee issues like this (you can contact them here). These are the people that you need to speak to. Again, it’s important that you collect evidence so you’ve got a strong case to make against them.
You have rights as an employee and you don’t have to put up with an unsafe work environment so do something about it before it’s too late.
