Have a general question about employment law? Want to share a story? I welcome all comments and questions. I can't give legal advice here about specific situations but will be glad to discuss general issues and try to point you in the right direction. If you need legal advice, contact an employment lawyer in your state. Remember, anything you post here will be seen publicly, and I will comment publicly on it. It will not be confidential. Govern yourself accordingly. If you want to communicate with me confidentially as Donna Ballman, Florida lawyer rather than as Donna Ballman, blogger, my firm's website is here.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Do I Have Workplace Rights If I Work In An Indian Casino?

An AOL Jobs reader asked:
I work security at an Indian Casino in California. I'm not sure how state overtime laws apply to Indian Casinos, but my workplace requires me to arrive early, get in uniform and clock in before I'm scheduled to start (no more than seven minutes prior to start). And if we're more than one minute late, we're penalized. What can be done?
I get questions about liability of tribal casinos a lot because my office is just a few miles from a major one here in Florida. In general, Native American reservations are considered to be on sovereign soil, and therefore the tribes are usually not subject to U.S. employment laws. The tribes have sovereign immunity, the same as if they were a foreign country. Tribes can waive sovereign immunity in contracts, so if you have an employment contract it's possible, but not very likely, that you have a waiver of immunity in your contract.

To find out what laws might protect you if you work for a Native American tribe, read my article Do I Have Workplace Rights If I Work In An Indian Casino?

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I appreciate your comments and general questions but this isn't the place to ask confidential legal questions. If you need an employee-side employment lawyer, try http://exchange.nela.org/findalawyer to locate one in your state.