Kansas City Missouri Employment Law Blog

For many minimum wage workers, daily life can be challenging from a financial point of view. From struggling with bills to dealing with car problems, there are many different financial concerns that people may have, which can be especially difficult to manage for those who earn minimum wage. Unfortunately, some workers face additional complications when their employee rights are violated. For example, an employer may fail to pay a worker minimum wage, and they should be held answerable for this behavior.

Minimum wage violations can bring on a considerable amount of stress, and they can leave workers in a difficult position. Some people may be afraid to speak out against mistreatment because they are worried about losing their job, which would make life even harder from a financial viewpoint. Moreover, other workers may not even realize that their rights have been violated. For example, an employer may take advantage of a young worker who is not familiar with their rights as an employee.

Office workers in Kansas don't necessarily view their workplaces as hazardous. However, digital eye strain does pose a serious risk to workers' vision when spending hours a day staring at a computer screen. The American Optometric Association explains why digital eye strain occurs and why taking breaks from your computer screen is so beneficial. 

The act of working from a computer screen is quite different than dealing with print on a page. For instance, the angle which you're viewing the screen might make your eyes work harder. The text might also appear blurry or undefined, and glare from the screen can also cause discomfort and other bothersome symptoms. Keep in mind that on average, workers in America spend as much as seven hours a day looking at some type of digital screen. This leads to numerous visual disturbances, among other issues.

While it's commonly claimed that age brings about wisdom, many older workers are simply not respected in the workplace. In fact, older workers may even be discriminated against or pressured to retire to make way for a younger workforce. Glassdoor offers the following tips on how older workers should address discrimination if and when it arises.

Even if it's unjustified, there may be a fear that older workers are not tech savvy. You can dispel this myth by staying in step with the latest office technologies, with a focus on those that are unique to your specific industry. You can also try to expand your knowledge base in general, which shows that you're willing to undergo training in order to learn new skills. Highlight this willingness from the initial job interview to prevent any misconceptions from developing. 

Microaggressions are seemingly small slights that call attention to racial and gender differences. While some people believe that minor slights don't have much of an impact on a person's health and well-being, research shows that this is not the case. The Center for Health Journalism explains the impact daily microaggressions can have on a person's body and mind. 

While overt racism is still a problem, microaggressions are seemingly more prevalent these days. Microaggressions are verbal slights that fall short of open discrimination. They can, however, have a significant impact on a person's mental wellness. Because of this, they're sometimes referred to as "death by a thousand cuts" by some researchers. Some point to a link between depression and race-based microaggressions among people of color. This is especially damaging when microaggressions are afforded by health care providers, which prevents people from seeking treatment for illnesses.