NAME:
LESSON:
SOURCE:
Alison Hellberg
Model Lesson Plan: Basic Workplace Rights
UAW website, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
Website
TIME:
55 Minutes
________________________________________________________________________
I. GOALS: Discussing what rights employees do and don’t have in the workplace
should allow students to:
A. Familiarize themselves with basic workplace rights and the limits of those rights.
B. Better understand how many of the rights guaranteed in the Constitution only
regulate governmental actions, not private actions.
C. Be exposed the concept of at-will employment as the default rule for employment
relationships and how statutes and contracts alter this default rule.
II. OBJECTIVES
A. Knowledge Objectives – As a result of this class, students will understand:
1. The basic workplace rights of all employees in Washington state.
a. Minimum wage
b. Overtime
c. Regular wages
d. Breaks
e. Workers’ compensation
f. Free of discrimination
2. The concept of “at-will employment”
3. The concept of “concerted activity”
4. Where to find more information if students or their families are having
problems in the workplace.
B. Skills Objectives – As a result of this class, students will be better able to:
1. Identify workplace rights guaranteed by statute.
2. Identify violations of those rights and which ones are illegal under
Washington state law.
3. Distinguish between governmental and private actors in violations of various
rights.
C. Attitude Objectives – Students will feel:
1. More confident in asserting their basic workplace rights.
2. More certain of the limits of these rights.
3. That collective activity of workers is favored under the law.
III. CLASSROOM METHODS
A. Begin class by asking which students have jobs. Ask a few of the students where
they work, how many hours a week they work. Why don’t they work more hours?
Next show a few slides of child workers from the early 20th century as power
point slides. Ask students questions about the students’ impressions of the slides.
[5 minutes]
1. Why would employers hire children? (possible answers might include: they
can pay them less, they don’t complain, they have small fingers/ hands and
can reach into the machinery).
2. Does this still happen? (in other parts of the world, in the U.S. to a limited
extent) Why does it no longer happen in the U.S.? Why are the students in
school? Why are none of them working 10-12 hours a day in factories, on
farms, etc.?
a. Show power point slide about the FLSA:
i. “The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938 that (among other
things) prohibited child labor, created overtime after 40 hours of work
per week, and provided for a minimum wage.”
b. Give a general introduction to today’s topic: Your Rights in the
Workplace.
B. Give directions for the next activity. Working in groups of 2 or 3 (of their own
choosing) students will pretend they are attorneys and two potential clients tell
them about problems with their job. Students will make a list of possible claims
the workers might have.
1. Read attached hypothetical aloud for students.
a. Put students into groups and have them write down possible claims. [ 5
minutes]
b. Bring the class back together and ask what claims they found. Have them
be as specific as possible – coming up with calculations as to the real
amount they should be paid, etc. Write these on the board [5 minutes]
c. Once students have exhausted their ideas, go through power point slides
with the following information [5-10 minutes]:
i. “minimum wage in Washington state is $7.63 (14- and 15-year olds
may be paid 85 percent of the adult minimum wage, $6.49)”
ii. “The normal work week is 40 hours for every 7 day period. If you
work more than 40 hours, every hour after that you should make 50%
more of your wages. For example, if your wage is $10/ hours, if you
work more than 40 hours, you should make $15/ hour for those
overtime hours. Most agricultural workers, managerial workers, and
some other workers do not have to be paid overtime.”
iii. Wage Calculation
Hourly Wage
$ 7.63
$11.45
Total
Hours
40
10
Wages
$305.20
$114.50
$419.70
iv. “You have a claim against your employer if you make less than the
minimum wage per hour or you are not paid overtime wages. You may
be able to get double the amount the employer owes you.”
v. “Under Washington state law, you must be paid on set paydays and
receive a statement of your wages. Payday must be at least once a
month. Paying you late is illegal.”
vi. “Under Washington state law, you have the right to a paid 10-minute
rest break for each 4 hours you work. You must be allowed a meal
break of at least 30 minutes about midway through your shift. Your
employer does not have to pay you for the meal break unless you are
required to remain on duty.”
d. The following two rights were not included in the previous hypothetical,
but are two more rights you have in the workplace [also put on power
point slides]:
i. “Help if you are hurt on the job: If you are hurt on the job, go to a
doctor and file a workers’ compensation claim. The State will pay
medical bills for your injury and often replace some of your wages if
you need time off to recover.” [remind them of torts and explain that
you are not allowed to sue your employer for negligence, but your
employer pays insurance so ANY on-the-job injury is paid for]
ii. “Work free of discrimination: It is against the law for you to be
fired, demoted, harassed, or given worse work assignments because of
your in the workplace on account of your race, national origin, sex,
age, language, religion or disability.”
C. Ask for 9 volunteers. One of the teachers will take them out into the hall with 3
role play activities. While he is gone, the other teacher will spend a few minutes
explaining to the class that they will see 3 role plays and they’ll want to pick out
ways in which the employers violated the employees’ rights.
1. While waiting for the other students to return, the other teacher will have the
students brainstorm basic rights from classes related to human rights and other
constitutional rights, such as:
a. Freedom of Speech
b. Freedom of Assembly
c. Freedom of Religion
d.
e.
f.
g.
Freedom of the Press
Innocent until proven guilty
Protection against search and seizure
Protection against self incrimination
2. For role play # 1, students will likely find that employer violated various
rights listed above. After a little discussion, show power point slide:
a. “At-will employment – An employer may end the employment
relationship at any time for any reason or for no reason.”
b. The employer has done nothing illegal in this situation. Whose actions
does the Constitution regulate and limit? The government’s.
3. Same discussion for role play # 2 – emphasize concept of at-will employment.
4. For role play # 3, have the same discussion, but in this case, the employer’s
firing was illegal. Show power point slide:
a. “Concerted Activity: The right of two or more to act together to try to
improve their workplace is called concerted activity.
i. -You do not have to be in a union to have this right.
ii. - Firing or mistreating workers who engage in concerted activity is
illegal.
iii. - If you have a complaint to make to your employer, protect yourself
by going with at least one other worker to complain together.”
b. Explain that the laws, particularly the National Labor Relations Act favors
workers acting collectively. [20 minutes]
D. To close, talk about levels of protection, unions, negotiating contracts to get
around the “default” rule of at-will employment.
IV. EVALUATION
A. Student participation in small groups and larger classroom discussion.
Hypothetical
Juan and Antonio have been working for the last 3 months
for a landscaping company. They work 6 days a week and at
least 50 hours each week. Their bosses give them a 20
minute meal break each day, but no other breaks.
They are supposed to be paid every Friday. They are
normally paid $300 weekly in cash and do not receive
anything in writing about their wages. They have not been
paid for the last 2 weeks of work because the employer says
he does not have enough money to pay them.
What claims do these workers have against their employer?
ROLE PLAY # 1
Characters: Boss and 3 employees: Chris, Pat and Terry
Scene: Manager of a fast food restaurant asks the three employees to
stop working and come to an emergency meeting.
- Boss singles out Terry and tells him that in order to keep his
job, he must get a haircut and stop wearing such baggy pants.
- Next, Boss says that someone has been stealing from the cash
register. Boss has been going through all of the employees’
lockers to see who did it.
- The employees begin to complain about the boss’ actions. Boss
says that those complaining about the policy must be guilty of
the thievery. The employees protest even more. Boss fires Pat
and assigns Chris to cleaning the toilets for the rest of the week
(even though it isn’t his turn).
ROLE PLAY # 1
Characters: Boss and 3 employees: Chris, Pat and Terry
Scene: Manager of a fast food restaurant asks the three employees to
stop working and come to an emergency meeting.
- Boss singles out Terry and tells him that in order to keep his
job, he must get a haircut and stop wearing such baggy pants.
- Next, Boss says that someone has been stealing from the cash
register. Boss has been going through all of the employees’
lockers to see who did it.
- The employees begin to complain about the boss’ actions. Boss
says that those complaining about the policy must be guilty of
the thievery. The employees protest even more. Boss fires Pat
and assigns Chris to cleaning the toilets for the rest of the week
(even though it isn’t his turn).
ROLE PLAY # 2
Characters: Boss and 1 employee
Scene: Boss is working at desk and employee enters and asks to
speak to Boss. Employee begins to explain his/ her excellent work
record and years of loyalty and asks for a raise. Boss says no and
responds that employee is fired for being a trouble maker.
ROLE PLAY # 2
Characters: Boss and 1 employee
Scene: Boss is working at desk and employee enters and asks to
speak to Boss. Employee begins to explain his/ her excellent work
record and years of loyalty and asks for a raise. Boss says no and
responds that employee is fired for being a trouble maker.
ROLE PLAY # 3
Characters: Boss and 2 employees
Scene: Boss is working at desk and employees enter and ask to speak
to Boss. Employees explain that the employees have been discussing
it and would like longer breaks and a raise. Boss calls them
troublemakers and fires both of them.
ROLE PLAY # 3
Characters: Boss and 2 employees
Scene: Boss is working at desk and employees enter and ask to speak
to Boss. Employees explain that the employees have been discussing
it and would like longer breaks and a raise. Boss calls them
troublemakers and fires both of them immediately.
ROLE PLAY # 3
Characters: Boss and 2 employees
Scene: Boss is working at desk and employees enter and ask to speak
to Boss. Employees explain that the employees have been discussing
it and would like longer breaks and a raise. Boss calls them
troublemakers and fires both of them immediately.