If you have specific questions relating to your employment rights it is always best to consult with an experienced Pennsylvania employment law attorney; however, take a moment to read through the following questions based on common employment myths to see how much you know about your rights. Learn more about Pennslyvania common employment myths in this presentation.

1. Pennsylvania Common Employment Myths – What You Don’t Know Might Hurt You curleyrothman.com
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- WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW MIGHT HURT YOU
“If you have specific questions relating to your employment rights it
is always best to consult with an experienced Pennsylvania
employment law attorney; however, take a moment to read through
the following questions based on common employment myths to
see how much you know about your rights.”
Charles Curley
Pennsylvania Employment Attorney

2. Pennsylvania Common Employment Myths – What You Don’t Know Might Hurt You curleyrothman.com
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Pat I of a Two PartSeries
Fortunately, mostworkers in the United States are protected by numerous state
and federal laws that ensure fair treatment in the workplace and prohibit
discriminatory practices in employment. The problem,however, is that
employees are oftenunaware of their rights. Worse still, there are a number of
commonmyths regarding worker rights that can further complicate the issue. If
you have specificquestions relating to your employmentrights it is always bestto
consult with an experienced Pennsylvania employmentlaw attorney; however,
take a moment to read through the following questions based on common
employmentmyths to see how much you know about your rights. You may be
surprised to find that some of what you believed to be truth turns out to be fiction.

3. Pennsylvania Common Employment Myths – What You Don’t Know Might Hurt You curleyrothman.com
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1. Your employer musthave a justifiable reason for terminating your
employment.True or False?
False. Like many states, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an
employment“at will” jurisdiction, meaning that with a few important
exceptions,your employermay terminate your employmentfor any reason
at all, or for no reason at all. The exceptions to that rule include:
• If you have an employmentcontract. If you have an
employmentcontract the terms of the contract may dictate
under what conditions you may be discharged.
• If the reasonfor termination is prohibitedby state or
federallaw. If, for example, your termination is based on a
discriminatory factor, such as your ethnicity or religion, it is an
unlawful termination.
• Your termination violatesa clearly mandated public policy.
For example, if you are fired because you reported an OSHA
violation, refused to do something illegal, or exercised your right
to file a workers’ compensationclaim.
2. All salaried workers are exemptfrom the overtime laws.True or
False?
False. Although many salaried employees are exempt from the overtime
pay requirements found in the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA),it is not a

4. Pennsylvania Common Employment Myths – What You Don’t Know Might Hurt You curleyrothman.com
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blanket exemption. To qualify for an exemptionan employee must
generally be paid a salary of at least $455 per week plus meet certain
additional requirements specific to their job category as an executive,
administrative, professionalor outside sales employee.
3. Workplace discriminationis always illegal. True or False?
False. This one usually comes a shock to people;however, the truth it that
discrimination is not
always illegal in the
workplace.
Discrimination is only
illegal when it is
based on a state or
federally protected
trait, class,or
characteristic such
as race, ethnicity,
disability, sex, religion, or national origin. Your employercould decide not to
hire people with long hair or decide to fire everyone wearing a red shirt and
his/her actions would not violate the law because neither hair length nor
clothing colorare protected by law.

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4. During a job interview,an employer can ask you aboutyour ethnicity,
race,religion,maritalstatus,nationalorigin,etc. True orFalse?
True. Surprised? Most people are, but the truth is that neither federal laws,
nor most states laws, prohibit a prospective employerfrom asking
questions relating to things such as your race, marital statutes, national
origin etc.; however, the law does prohibit an employerfrom making hiring
decisions based on the answers to those questions.For this reason, most
employers stay away from questions relating to protected areas to avoid
any claims of discrimination in the hiring process.One important exception
to this general rule is that a prospective employeris not allowed to ask you
about a disability.

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5. Your employer is required by law to give you breaksif you work a
specific numberof hours in a day.True or False?
False. Most employeesoperate under this assumption – because most
employers do give employeesbreaks after working a certain number of
hours in a day, such as a lunch break if you work more than six hours in a
day. The law, however, does not require an employer to give an employee
over the age of 18 any breaks, regardless of the number of hours worked in
a day. Pennsylvania law does require employers to provide workers aged
14-17 with a 30 minute break if the employee works five or more
consecutive hours though.
As you should now be able to see, employmentlaw is a complexand
complicated area of the law. Navigating the numerous state and federallaws that
govern the employee-employerrelationship can be difficultand typically requires
the assistance of an experienced employmentlaw attorney. If you have specific
question or concerns relating to employmentlaw be sure to consult with a
Pennsylvania employmentlaw attorney. In addition, be sure to read Part II in this
series for Questions 6-10 relating to commonemploymentlaw myths.
U.S. Departmentof Labor, Overtime Pay
Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission, Age Discrimination
EEOC,Harassment
United States Department of Labor, Family and Medical Leave Act
Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Pennsylvania Human Relations Act

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About Curley & Rothman, LLC
Curley & Rothman, LLC is a boutique firm of
commercial lawyers serving clients ranging from
individuals to Fortune 500 corporations in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We provide
clients with experienced, skilled, and honest
advice and representation in commercial and
business-related legal matters. Our mantra is
"Relentless Representation" and we hold to it.
We are determined to do everything possible to
provide you with the competitive edge you need to win.
At the Conshohocken law firm of Curley & Rothman, LLC, we understand your time and
resources are valuable, so we will not waste them by agreeing to represent you in a case in
which you cannot prevail. If we agree to take your case, it is because we are confident we can
come up with winning strategies for you. Contact us now by calling 610-834-8819 to schedule
your free consultation today.
Spring Mill Corporate Center
1100 East Hector Street
Suite 425, Conshohocken, PA 19428
www.curleyrothman.com
Phone: 610-834-8819
Fax: 610-834-8813