OFW guide: Understanding your rights as a worker

You have a right to be treated equally as everyone no matter what your religious or political beliefs are.  This is one of the basic rights of workers specified under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the United Nations website, this declaration "is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) (French) (Spanish)  as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations."  The declaration "sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected," the UN said.  

The book “Successful Assertive Management” by Ken Lawson, M.A., Ed.M. lists some of the basic rights specified under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

 

(1) Right to equality

 

Whatever your race, color, sex, language, religion, political belief or age is, you are equal to everyone.

 

Thinking that you are superior because of your race or that you are smarter because you are older may be a common notion but is not always correct.

 

Give respect to be respected.

 

(2) Right to opinion

 

An opinion is never wrong. It is the unique view of a person on a particular subject.

 

You may try to persuade or sway the opinion of others but if the person firmly believes in his opinion, it would be best to respect it.

 

Don’t get offended if another person voices out his opinion that you don’t agree to. Remember, people may not always agree with each other but it’s better to be neutral than to be enemies.

 

(3) Right to work

 

Everyone is entitled to the choice of working for any company, good working environment, and protection from unemployment.

 

If nothing seems to be going right for you in the company you currently work in and you have already done everything you can to fix the situation, you should go look for one which honors these rights.

 

(4) Right to equal pay for equal work

 

You should always get the right amount of pay for the work you do.

 

On the other hand, you should work as much as you are getting paid.

Tip: If you are overworked, underpaid or both, it may be time to search for a company that will value you.

 

(5) The right to just remuneration

 

Being overworked is one thing and being underpaid is another. However, when one is underpaid, this affects the personal finances of the person and may result in reduced productivity.

 

A person receiving lower salary than what he should, must demand the proper salary or supplementary social protection.

 

(6) The right to form and join trade unions

 

An employee at one time in his career may want to form or join trade unions to band with his fellow workers and promote the protection of their rights.

 

Sometimes, employers feel that this is a threat and prevents employees from forming or joining a union. This is illegal and punishable by law.

 

(7) Right to rest and leisure

 

Employees are people and people need to rest. This right explains that each employee must be assigned a fair amount of working hours per week including periodic holidays with pay.

 

Companies differ with their regulations for holidays so it would be best to take note of which policy your company adheres to when hired to prevent future confusion.

 

(8) Right to standard living

 

All people are entitled to the basic rights like food, clothing, shelter and medical care.

 

During unemployment, sickness, disability and old age, people are entitled to security.

 

Official, unofficial rights of workers  

Meanwhile, the book also lists some official and unofficial working rights.

 

Official rights

 

 

Unofficial rights