7 Signs Your Manager Isn't Just a Bad Boss — They're Crossing the Line Legally

If you're working for a bad boss, it may be obvious. You're constantly stressed out, unable to appease this boss, damned if you do, damned if you don't. You may have to deal with their micromanaging and distrust issues on a daily basis, or you can never catch a break, always taking their incessant calls and responding to their nonstop emails even during your off hours and on your vacations.  Maybe you even face workplace discrimination in some form.

Whatever the case, your boss' bad behavior can quickly cross the legal line. And here's how to tell when it does move from unfair to illegal.

Federal and state laws require most employers to pay you overtime. In fact, most states have labor laws that mandate that your employer pay you a rate of 1.5 times your regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 hours in any given workweek.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) mandates that employers give you at least 12 weeks off following a serious life and/or family event. This includes the birth and care of a child, as well as the adoption of a child — without fear of losing your job.

There are federal and state laws that prohibit employers from discriminating against you by paying you unfair wages on the basis of your gender (as well as on the basis of your race, religion, age, national origin and more). 

Of course, your vacation time is a privilege and not a right; your employer does not legally have to give you paid time off, nor do they have to allow you to take it whenever you want. That said, if specific protected groups at your workplace do not receive vacation time — as in, your employer denies vacation time to a protected class (such as by gender, race, etc.), then they are breaking anti-discrimination laws.

Breaks are not mandatory. Unless you are a minor, your employer does not legally have to give you any break times. That said, if you are a breastfeeding mother, your employer does indeed have to give you a break to nurse your baby, according to federal healthcare laws.

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) defines workplace sexual harassment as "unwelcome sexual advances or conduct of a sexual nature which unreasonably interferes with the performance of a person's job or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment." If your employer makes an unwelcome sexual advances toward or you or acts in a sexual nature that interferes with your job performance or makes you uncomfortable, they are crossing the line legally.