Your Rights at Work! Español/Spanish
Welcome! Here you can find information about your rights at work. You can learn about health and safety, how to make a complaint to OSHA, payment of wages, discrimination at work, workers’ compensation (compensation if there is an injury or accident at work). Below you will find videos, brochures, and links to other organizations and resources.
How to make a safety complaint to OSHA
Note: Your employer cannot punish you for reporting injuries or complaining about health and safety problems. If you or your co-workers are punished, fired, demoted, transferred, or discriminated against for reporting a safety issue, file a discrimination complaint with OSHA within 30 days.
Brochures and resources about your right to health and safety at work:
- Meat and Poultry Workers: What do I do if I’m injured at work?
- Meat and Poultry Workers: Avoid Knife Injuries on the Job!
- Wallet card about your rights as a worker (OSHA)
- We Are OSHA – We Can Help: Workers’ Rights (OSHA)
- Protect Yourself: Cleaning chemicals and your health (OSHA)
- Filing Whistleblower Complaints (OSHA)
- “Am I Safe?” My Safety Is My Future Checklist
UFCW Safety & Health: Educational materials on bathroom breaks and many other safety issues.
Workers’ Compensation
- What is workers’ compensation? (Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court)
- Right to choose your own doctor (Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court)
- Meat and Poultry Workers: What do I do if I’m injured at work?
Video: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AT WORK!
For meatpacking, poultry, and other factories
This video covers your right to health and safety in meatpacking and poultry plants (and other workplaces) and how you can act on those rights.
In practical terms and real-life settings, the video covers: your right to a safe workplace under OSHA, the dangers of crippling work speed injuries, early warning signs of serious injuries, reporting injuries, your right to training, choosing your own doctor, how to file a complaint with OSHA, and your right to report safety concerns or injuries without retaliation by your employer.
Click below to view any scene or to play the whole video.
Complete Video: Know Your Rights at Work! (16 minutes)
Scene 1: Pain is the sign of a serious injury
Including: Pain as a serious warning sign; work speed and recognizing crippling injuries before they are permanent; reporting injuries; and seeing your own doctor.
Scene 2: Talking with a friend – the work is too fast
Including: Reporting safety concerns and injuries, and knowing your rights if your employer retaliates after you report an injury or safety issue.
Scene 3:In the supervisor’s office
Including: Your right to receive proper training.
Scene 4: In the OSHA office
Including: What is OSHA, and the right to choose your own doctor (in Nebraska and some other states).
Scene 5: How to make a complaint to OSHA
Including: How to file an OSHA complaint and what information to include.
Scene 6: In the company nurse’s office
Including: Never sign something you don’t understand; don’t give away your right to choose your own doctor; and proper treatment of injuries.
For meatpacking, poultry, and other factories
This video covers your right to health and safety in meatpacking and poultry plants (and other workplaces) and how you can act on those rights.
In practical terms and real-life settings, the video covers: your right to a safe workplace under OSHA, the dangers of crippling work speed injuries, early warning signs of serious injuries, reporting injuries, your right to training, choosing your own doctor, how to file a complaint with OSHA, and your right to report safety concerns or injuries without retaliation by your employer.
Click below to view any scene or to play the whole video.
Complete Video: Know Your Rights at Work! (16 minutes)
Scene 1: Pain is the sign of a serious injury
Including: Pain as a serious warning sign; work speed and recognizing crippling injuries before they are permanent; reporting injuries; and seeing your own doctor.
Scene 2: Talking with a friend – the work is too fast
Including: Reporting safety concerns and injuries, and knowing your rights if your employer retaliates after you report an injury or safety issue.
Scene 3:In the supervisor’s office
Including: Your right to receive proper training.
Scene 4: In the OSHA office
Including: What is OSHA, and the right to choose your own doctor (in Nebraska and some other states).
Scene 5: How to make a complaint to OSHA
Including: How to file an OSHA complaint and what information to include.
Scene 6: In the company nurse’s office
Including: Never sign something you don’t understand; don’t give away your right to choose your own doctor; and proper treatment of injuries.
- Filing a wage complaint (Nebraska)
- Filing a wage complaint (Federal)
- Discrimination based on race, color, sex, pregnancy, national origin, marital status, disability, religion, age (40-years-old and over)
- Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission (NEOC)
- Discrimination is prohibited by state law flyer (NEOC)
- How to file a discrimination complaint to the NEOC
- Citizenship Discrimination flyer (NILC)
- National Origin Discrimination
- Brochure from U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
- Other languages
- Document Abuse – When an employer won’t accept acceptable documents (NILC)
- Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices Website
- Your Rights as an Immigrant Worker Brochure (NILC)
- Other Workers’ Rights Materials: National Immigration Law Center
- Nebraska Appleseed, 402-438-8853 x205
- Heartland Workers Center, 402-933-6095
- United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union (UFCW) Local 293, 402-721-0429
- Unity in Action (South Sioux City), 712-281-4011
- Deyanira Salgado, Nebraska Meatpacking Workers’ Bill of Rights Coordinator/Labor Law Investigator, 402-471-4720