After reporting unlawful or unethical behavior in a workplace, it is natural to feel some concern about the possibility of retaliation. After all, even if retaliatory actions are illegal, that does not stop people from engaging in it.
Subtle signs of retaliation often happen in lieu of bigger and more prominent displays, however. It is important to keep an eye out.
Changes to schedules and shifts
The Ethics and Compliance Initiative discusses signs of retaliation at work. Many will come from the top and seem like ordinary decisions, or at least decisions that management can explain away. For example, they might reduce an employee’s working hours or change them to a less desirable shift.
These are not unusual things for management to ask of a person. However, if these changes are permanent instead of temporary or multiple changes happen in a small span of time, it could be a sign that an employer is trying to make work more difficult. They may hope the employee will leave on their own.
Changes in management and reception
Other methods of retaliation are more noticeable, however. In some cases, the employer might give a scorned employee the silent treatment. They might give excessively negative performance reviews, or excessively micromanage individuals. They could even straight out deny the victim opportunities that they would have otherwise had access to, like promotions or raises.
Whatever the case for retaliation, it is not legal. Anyone facing retaliation at work after speaking out against a company’s wrongdoings has the right to take the matter to court and protect themselves.