Q: Something has to give?
The owner of the motel I work at refuses to hire real employees instead he finds homeless people who will work and jump when he says to stay in room for free they have no I.d filled out no paperwork and expect the real employees to train and work with them and give them keys and let them in employee only areas But because they are not on the books they have special rules if they don’t show up on time it’s OK if they don’t do it right it’s OK do I have to train them? Is that legal for him to make us work alongside them like that and then give them different rules than us? Something has to be wrong here … negligence? Creating a hostel work environment? Should I mention thatWe have no manager and the owners live out of the city and leave every Friday and don’t come back until Tuesday there’s no human resources there is nothing I should also mention that the motel is in a very poor area with a very poor reputation and much violence and a murder couple months ago people oding everywhere
A:
What this owner is doing is unlawful but not in a way that you can benefit from it. These other employees have rights if they wish to enforce them. You still have to do what your employer requires of you, including working alongside them and training them. There is no "hostile work environment" claim unless the basis for the hostility is your membership in a protected class of people. Having a home is not a protected class.
Employers are not legally required to have an HR department, or to be immediately available to employees.
As to the dangerous area, that is a fact of life for many employees, but unless the employer somehow increases the risk if danger, there is no liability.
Good luck to you.
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