Hostile work enviroment laws?

[IsisAngel]

Hello ,

I have worked for a small company in NJ for the past two years. To give a brief description of what we have to deal with here. We have two bosses that are constantly mistreating us, always talking and comparing his culture and religion to ours( on how his is so much more superior) , calling us at home to tell us how he is upset ( personal reasons like the fact that he had feelings for his secretary, to complain about the fact that he feels that we gave him a cheap christmas present) actually went as far as having a meeting about the fact that he wanted a bigger gitft, etc etc.

We get no lunch breaks , no 15 minute breaks, no vacation, sick days, we work most holidays, no benefits or overtime pay.

(I know most of you are thinking why is anyone still working here, but quitting at the moment is not an option due to the fact that we have families to support )

I just want to know if anyone knows where i can get some information about what our rights are and if I do quit ( because i am physically feeling the effects of the stress ) can I collect unemployment .

Thank you

[Marketeer]

The legal definition of a hostile work environment is fairly specific. It's harassment or discrimination that is a violation of a person's civil rights (such as on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc.). It certainly sounds like some of the comments that are based on religion, for example, could fall into the category of creating a hostile work environment. The rest of the managers' behavior (like the cheap Christmas present tantrum), however, sounds like it's based on the fact that you work for a couple of jerks. Unfortunately, being a jerk is not against the law.

Your first step would normally be to report the behavior to your Human Resource department. The next step would be to report it to the state department of human rights and/or to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

New Jersey has no laws requiring breaks that I'm aware of. There is no state or federal requiring that you get holidays off, vacation pay, or sick pay.