Federal and Delaware law prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, age, disability, religion, national origin, and pregnancy.
Delaware’s law reaches smaller employers than federal law does. These protections cover hiring, firing, pay, promotion, and discipline. They also cover harassment severe or frequent enough to change the conditions of your job.
Discrimination rarely announces itself. It shows up as unequal standards, a coded explanation, or a decision that only makes sense once you ask who else was treated differently.
If the explanation you were given doesn’t fit what actually happened, it’s worth taking a closer look.
Federal and Delaware law give employees the right to request reasonable accommodations for a disability, including pregnancy and postpartum recovery, and to take protected medical or family leave.
The ADA covers accommodation requests. The FMLA covers up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition or to care for family, for many employees. Delaware’s Paid Family Leave grants paid leave to many workers, and covers your own health condition, a new child, or a family member’s serious illness.
An employer doesn’t have to grant every request, but it does have to engage in a real process. Employers can’t punish you for asking, or for taking the leave to which you’re entitled.
The trouble usually starts with a request. Leave, modified duties, a schedule change, some accommodation tied to your health or that of your family.
The law doesn’t require your employer to say yes to everything. It does require a real process, and it prohibits retaliation for using rights you’re entitled to.
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