What are your employee rights during a natural disaster? 🌪️

Hey there! How do you feel about negotiating pay?

If your first thoughts were “anxious,” “unsure,” or “🫠,” our webinar is here to help. Join us this Wednesday, October 16, at 12 PM ET to learn 1) how to negotiate and 2) the best practices for negotiating pay at both current and new jobs.  

Sign up right here. See you Wednesday! 

What Are Your Employee Rights During a Natural Disaster? 🌪️ 

Days before Hurricane Milton tore through Florida, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned residents, “If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.” 

Despite Castor’s (very) blunt message, countless Floridians were still expected to be at work just hours before the hurricane made landfall—leaving them with little to no time to evacuate.

When employers ignore safety during a natural disaster, the consequences can be deadly. Just weeks earlier, several Impact Plastics employees in Tennessee tragically lost their lives after being allowed to leave only 45 minutes before flooding from Hurricane Helene began.

This raises the question: What are your rights as an employee in a natural disaster? Are you still entitled to pay? Can your job force you to stay—or fire you if you decide to leave?

Here’s what we found:

Introducing OSHA 

Meet the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (aka OSHA), the law that requires employers to maintain a safe work environment free from “hazards that are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” And that includes—you guessed it—natural disasters.

OSHA enforces this law by giving you the right to:

• Refuse to work if you believe you're in imminent danger 

• Protections from retaliation (e.g. firing, pay or hour cuts, etc.) under whistleblower laws if you exercise this right

OSHA also lets you file a complaint (free of charge!) if your employer doesn’t respect these guidelines. 

How do natural disasters affect my pay? 

It’s important to know that your pay rights differ during a natural disaster based on whether you’re classified as exempt or nonexempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act. (Unsure what your employee classification is? Our video can help you find the answer!)

• Nonexempt employees ➜ Typically, employers do not have to pay nonexempt employees for hours missed due to a natural disaster closure. 

• Exempt employees ➜ If your workplace closes for less than a week, you should still receive your full salary. However, some employers may ask you to use your leave.

Regardless of your classification, you may qualify for unemployment benefits or disaster aid, including the Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance or financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Your life over corporate greed, always 

OSHA’s protections go beyond hurricanes—they cover wildfire smoke, flooding, extreme temperatures, and even strange-smelling fumes. And other organizations, such as the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, are here to help. 

Hurricanes Milton and Helene weren’t the first natural disasters, and they certainly won’t be the last. Always remember your life is worth more than anyone’s profit. Know your rights, stay safe, and put your well-being first. 💚

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They say everything’s bigger in Texas. But…does that include the salaries? 👀

We headed to the Texas State Fair to find out! Tune in to hear what an account manager, software engineer, climbing arborist (yes, it’s a thing), and more earn in the Lone Star State: 

• October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month! 💻 Revamp your career and enroll in one of Coursera’s top cybersecurity professional certificates, like this one from Microsoft.*

• Dell dropped the ball. 👎 Dell employees were given just two days’ notice to return to the office full-time, leaving parents scrambling to find childcare. And if they couldn’t find it in time? They were told to “use their PTO.” Not exactly the “work-life balance” Dell prides itself on. 

• PetSmart’s first union has arrived. 🐈 Indiana PetSmart employees just won the pet store’s first US union election to demand better working conditions. Currently, PetSmart makes employees sign a “training repayment” contract that forces them to pay PetSmart thousands if they don’t last two years on the job. 

• Ramada Hotels is hiring a “Chief Eats Officer.” 🍴The “CEO” will eat their way around the world while creating social media content—and compensation starts at $15,000 for three weeks. If that sounds like your dream job (because same) apply by October 22!

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Thanks for being here! Before you go, we wanted to revisit how we went viral last year after sharing the cost breakdown of our wedding. 💒 That spotlight came with a lot of negative attention from haters who criticized our budget—and even our relationship.

So in our latest episode of Two Cents, James and I confront the negative reactions and reveal the real story behind the financial choices for our special day.

Give it a watch below or tune in via Spotify! 

See you next week!