Employees working in California should know that the state, as well as the federal government, has laws to protect employees from all kinds of workplace harassment and discrimination. On top of that, the laws also have provisions to protect the employees from negative actions and unlawful retaliation by the employer or the other authorities. Do I need to give two weeks notice to my employer if they retaliate? This is one of the most common questions that employees ask. Before that, it’s important to know what retaliation means and why may an employer retaliate against an employee?

Workplace retaliation can be defined as the negative reaction or it’s an attempt to take revenge from an employee for reporting about workplace misconduct. It can take place if the employee reports about sexual harassment or any other unlawful activities within the workplace. To understand retaliation claims, one needs to understand the state laws that prohibit adverse action on the part of the employers. For instance, it is illegal to terminate an employee for filing against workplace harassment.  Some of the actions of retaliation are as follows:

Reductions in salary Unfair demotions Unfair disciplinary actions Denying promotions Wrongful termination Negative reviews on work performance all of a sudden Reassignment of Jobs Reporting fraudulent activities Reporting workplace harassment Reporting for the hostile working environment Refusing to be a part of illegal activity Reporting or filing a lawsuit for unsafe working conditions Filing lawsuits against a supervisor or other co-workers for harassment Filing lawsuit for not paying the wages Filing lawsuit against the employer/supervisor or anyone associated with illegal conduct Filing a lawsuit for workplace discrimination

Any action that poses an adverse effect on the employment after filing or reporting a complaint should be considered as retaliation. For instance, if a single mother is discriminated at the workplace and she files a lawsuit for such discrimination, and the employer all of a sudden reduces the pay scale or demotes her, it’ll be considered as retaliation. This is because the employer reduces the wage or demotes the employee after reporting a complaint.

California is an at-will employment state, meaning to say that both the employers and employees work on an at-will basis. Employees can leave the job without any notice and the employers can terminate the employees without stating any reason for such dismissals. However, it’s unlawful to terminate an employee based on discrimination and retaliation. So if an employee feels that the employer is taking adverse or negative actions for reporting workplace harassment or discrimination, can resign from the job without giving any notice.

Two-week notices are considered as part of business etiquette and employees usually follow that to maintain a cordial relation with the company. However, in the case of discrimination, harassment, or any other illegal conduct, employees can leave the job without any notice. The employer is bound to clear all the payments at the time of quitting. If the notice was given, the employer needs to clear all the unpaid wages to the employee.