I posted in legal advice too, but i was cusious if this comunity has some insight.
barber shop I work in is doing shady things, and it appears I am getting suspended for not keeping quiet about it, needing advice before my meeting tomorrow
(California)
I'm 8 years into the industry and it's pretty valid to say most shops do shady things. But I'm starting to get fed up with some of the practices of my work, and I've begun to get a little vocal about some issues including
our wages, our shop gets paid hourly so we make far less than average barber, we have gotten together to asked for more money but we are still only paid about $16, a dollar over minimum wage and our tips, they are not flexible to increase that even for the barbers who have been in the industry for 5-10 years, and the male barbers make more than the female barbers, (some with more experience than the men)
Safety concerns, I'm vocal about covid safety, and there's been some sexual harassment problems from employees & customers. The barber shop owner also owns a massage parlor and one of the hairstylists got sexually assaulted at the parlor, when no other customers were around I asked another employee if the guy got fired, and explained that we have some problems here and I just wanted to know if the owners would protect us
Calling in sick, from my understanding they can't suspend or punish me for calling in sick, right? The suspended another barber for 2 weeks for calling in with covid, the shop keeps it under the radar when employees have covid because they can't shut the whole shop down or give sick time to everyone who made contact with the person with covid- plus thats like impossible to track, but I'm afraid they will do the same to me for calling in this week or “too often” I have the right to sick days?
I just need to know that I'm protected? Having called in sick and getting suspended I live alone and can not pay rent if I have unpaid leave, and I don't believe I've done anything that's not protected by law?