Columbus Employment Lawyers

Here's a general overview of some of the main laws that protect employees in Columbus. Keep in mind that you should talk to an attorney sooner rather than later about your specific concerns.

Sometimes an employee suspects that they're not getting paid proper wages. A federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act sets a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for most employees. It's $2.13 per hour for tipped employees if their tips make up the difference between that amount and the standard minimum wage. Ohio provides a more generous minimum wage for employees of businesses that have annual gross receipts above a certain amount. As of 2025, the minimum wage under the Ohio law is $10.70 per hour for most employees. It's $5.35 per hour for tipped employees, assuming that their tips make up the difference. (The minimum wage increases each year according to inflation.) Certain employees are exempt from both federal and state laws.

Unlike some cities, Columbus doesn't have a minimum wage law for most employees. The Ohio law doesn't allow cities to set a minimum wage different from what the state requires. However, a higher minimum wage applies to people who work on city contracts in Columbus.

The FLSA and the Ohio wage law have essentially parallel rules for overtime pay. An employer must pay an employee who works more than 40 hours in a workweek one and a half times their normal wage for each hour over that limit. As with the minimum wage requirements, certain employees are exempt, such as executive, administrative, and professional employees and outside salespersons.

Keep in mind that some activities that might not seem like "work" may count as compensable working hours. For example, if you're on duty at your workplace, this time counts as working hours under the FLSA even if you're not actively doing something. Time on duty at home sometimes might count as working hours if the employer has a lot of control over what you can do during that time. Rest periods of 20 minutes or less must be compensated, and so must job-related training programs. Traveling from one job site to another during the workday is generally compensable time, although your commute to work is not.

The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor enforces the FLSA. The Bureau of Wage and Hour Administration in the Ohio Department of Commerce handles complaints of wage violations under Ohio law.

Local, state, and federal laws prohibit employers in Columbus from discriminating against employees and job applicants based on certain protected traits. Discrimination often involves firing or refusing to hire someone, but it can extend to any adverse action related to the job. Here are some other examples:

• Demoting or refusing to promote an employee
• Giving an employee less desirable job assignments
• Paying an employee less than employees without their protected trait who do the same work
• Withholding access to benefits
• Providing less favorable training opportunities
• Harassment that meets a certain standard

The Columbus City Code contains a provision that prohibits discrimination in the workplace. It applies to businesses with at least four employees. Protected traits under the city law include race (including protective and cultural hairstyles), sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age (40 or older), disability, familial status, and military status. The Community Relations Commission in the Columbus Department of Neighborhoods responds to alleged violations of this law. A complaint must be filed within six months after the alleged discrimination.

Ohio has an employment discrimination law that similarly applies to businesses with four or more employees. Protected traits under the state law include race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and interpreted to include sexual orientation and gender identity), military status, national origin, disability, age (40 or older), and ancestry. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission enforces this law. You have two years to file a complaint after the last discriminatory act.

In addition, many Columbus employees are protected by federal anti-discrimination laws. One of the main laws in this area is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which applies to businesses with 15 or more employees. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. "Sex" includes pregnancy and has been interpreted to include sexual orientation and gender identity after a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits disability discrimination by employers of the same size and requires them to provide reasonable accommodations for disabilities in certain situations. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects workers who are 40 or older if they're employed by a business with at least 20 employees. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces these laws. You have 300 days to file a complaint with the EEOC if a state agency (such as the Ohio Civil Rights Commission) enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis.

Illegal sex discrimination includes sexual harassment, which extends from physical conduct like groping or even assault to comments, gestures, or demands. There are two main types of sexual harassment claims: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when someone who has the authority to make job decisions affecting the employee demands that they engage in sexual conduct in exchange for a job benefit, or to avoid a negative job-related action. (Quid pro quo means "this for that" in Latin.) For example, if an employee's boss tells them that they'll get a raise if they start dating the boss, this would be illegal quid pro quo harassment.

Meanwhile, hostile work environment harassment occurs when unwelcome behavior creates an environment that would be intimidating, offensive, or hostile to a reasonable person in the victim's position. The harassing conduct must be severe or pervasive. A single major incident, such as a sexual assault, could support a claim on its own. Many smaller incidents also could be enough to support a claim when taken together. While only certain types of employees can perpetrate quid pro quo harassment, any employee can engage in hostile work environment harassment. Improper conduct by clients and customers of the business also can result in a hostile work environment.

Federal law makes an employer liable for harassment by a supervisor if it results in an adverse employment action. In hostile work environment claims involving harassment by a supervisor, an employer is also generally liable but may have an affirmative defense in narrow cases. This involves showing that the employer tried to stop and correct the harassment, but the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of these opportunities. When harassment by someone other than a supervisor creates a hostile work environment, an employer will be liable if it knew what was happening (or should have known) and failed to promptly and appropriately respond. Ohio law largely parallels federal law in this area.

An employee may need to take time off from work to address a serious issue affecting a family member or them. Ohio doesn't have a general law providing for family and medical leave. As a result, employees in Columbus usually must rely on the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. This provides up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for covered employees of covered employers. The leave is not paid, but it's job-protected. In the private sector, the FMLA largely applies to employers with at least 50 employees. An employee must work at a location where the business has 50 employees within 75 miles. They also must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and have accumulated at least 1,250 hours of service in the last 12 months before the leave.

You can take FMLA leave if you have a serious health condition that prevents you from doing your job. In addition, you can use it to care for a child, spouse, or parent who is seriously ill. FMLA leave is also available for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child, and for certain reasons related to the foreign deployment of a qualifying family member in the U.S. armed forces. A distinctive provision of the law even allows for up to 26 weeks of leave in a 12-month period when a qualifying family member in the military (or recently in the military) is dealing with a serious injury or illness. The Wage and Hour Division in the U.S. Department of Labor enforces this law.

Ohio has a limited law that provides for military family leave. It applies to businesses with 50 or more employees. You can take up to 10 days or 80 hours of leave, whichever is less, in a calendar year if certain requirements are met. An employee is covered by this law only if they have been employed by the business for 12 consecutive months and for at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before taking the leave. Military family leave covers situations in which the spouse or child of the employee is called to active duty in the military for more than 30 days, or gets injured while serving on active duty. You can sue an employer for violating this law.

The general rule in Ohio, similar to the rule in most other states, is that employment is "at-will." In other words, a business can fire an employee for any reason or for no particular reason, and the employee also can quit without having a particular reason. However, this doesn't apply in every situation. As mentioned earlier, anti-discrimination laws prohibit businesses from firing employees based on certain protected traits. They also can't retaliate against an employee who files a complaint of discrimination or contributes to the investigation of a complaint. More generally, an employee can't be fired for a reason that violates public policy.

A wrongful termination claim also may arise when a business terminates a worker for a reason that's not allowed by their employment contract. Even if the contract doesn't specifically limit reasons for termination, an employee might have a claim based on an "implied contract" if the employer made certain written or oral assurances that an employee wouldn't be fired for certain reasons or without following a certain process. These cases tend to be complex, so you should talk to a lawyer as soon as possible if you think that you might have had an implied contract with your employer.

If you got injured or became ill because of your work, you likely can recover benefits through the workers' compensation system. Ohio requires most employers to have this coverage. You don't need to prove that your employer or anyone else was at fault to get these benefits. However, the tradeoff is that you can't sue your employer for your injuries, and workers' comp benefits don't extend as broadly as damages in a personal injury case. They largely address medical treatment and lost wages arising from the injury or illness, rather than covering non-economic damages like pain and suffering. You might want to bring a lawsuit against a third party that was legally responsible for your injuries, which could allow you to recover more compensation.

You should tell your employer about your injury or illness as soon as possible. They can't fire or otherwise retaliate against you for filing a workers' comp claim. You have one year after a job-related injury to file a notice of injury with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. (If your employer is self-insured, you'll file your claim through its program.) There's also a one-year deadline for claims based on an occupational disease, although determining the start of the one-year period is more complicated. Some claims are medical-only claims, which means that the injured worker has not missed more than seven days of work. Other claims are lost-time claims, which involve eight or more missed days of work. If you disagree with a decision on your claim, you can appeal to the Ohio Industrial Commission.

You may be able to pursue unemployment insurance through the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services if you lose your job. As of 2025, you must have worked for at least 20 weeks during a certain period (the "base period") and earned an average weekly wage of at least $338. You also generally must be unemployed through no fault of your own. In other words, you might not be able to get benefits if you were fired for misconduct, or if you quit for reasons unrelated to your job. However, you might be able to get benefits if you had a good reason for leaving your job, such as dangerous workplace conditions. In addition, you must be able to work, actively looking for work, and available to accept new work.

The weekly benefit amount is usually half of your average weekly wage. In 2025, it's capped at $600 if you have no dependents, $728 if you have one or two dependents, and $810 if you have three or more dependents. Certain types of income may be deducted from your benefits, such as vacation pay, pensions, severance pay, and workers' compensation. However, income such as Social Security benefits, interest dividends, and rental income may not be deducted. You can receive unemployment benefits for 20 to 26 weeks in each benefit year.

The largest employers in Columbus span many industries. Here are some examples:

• J.P. Morgan Chase (finance)
• Nationwide (insurance)
• Cardinal Health (life sciences)
• Honda (auto)
• Huntington (finance)
• American Electric Power (utilities)
• Bath & Body Works (retail)
• DHL (logistics)
• Bread Financial (finance)
• Defense Logistics Agency (military support)

In addition, many Fortune 1000 companies have set up their headquarters in Columbus. These include American Electric Power, Bath & Body Works, Bread Financial, Big Lots, Cardinal Health, Designer Brands, Huntington, Mettler Toledo, M/I Homes, Nationwide, Vertiv, and Worthington Enterprises.

If you think that your employer might have violated your rights under a local, state, or federal law, you may want to contact the agency responsible for enforcing that law. Here are some of the key agencies to know:

• Bureau of Wage and Hour Administration, Ohio Department of Commerce: enforces the Ohio wage law
• Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor: enforces the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Family and Medical Leave Act
• Community Relations Commission, Columbus Department of Neighborhoods: enforces the city anti-discrimination ordinance
• Ohio Civil Rights Commission: enforces the state anti-discrimination law
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: enforces most federal anti-discrimination laws

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation oversees the process of getting benefits if you're injured on the job. Claims for unemployment benefits go to the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.

Justia aims to empower ordinary people so that they can protect their legal rights. One of the free resources that we offer to consumers is the Employment Law Center in the Justia Legal Guides. This can give you a general sense of key laws affecting the workplace.

For insights on a specific problem that has come up in your workplace, you can use the Justia Ask A Lawyer platform. This allows you to post a question so that employment lawyers in Columbus or other areas of Ohio can offer their thoughts. However, Justia isn't a law firm, and an attorney who responds to your question doesn't create an attorney-client relationship or assume any of the duties toward you that this would involve.

Once you're ready to move forward with hiring a lawyer, this page in the Justia Lawyer Directory offers a wide range of listings to explore. You might want to put together a shortlist of several possible lawyers before reaching out to each of them for personalized conversations. Choosing your attorney is a big decision, so you should weigh your options carefully.

Workplace conflicts can be deeply disturbing. They can pose threats not only to your career but also to your overall health. While hiring an attorney might seem like an expense that you don't really need, it often pays off in the long run.

Legal professionals have comprehensive knowledge of their area of the law, for which there is no substitute even if you research on your own. They stay on top of changes in laws and regulations, as well as trends in how courts and agencies interpret key provisions. Some of these nuances might not seem important, but they can make or break a case, depending on its specific facts. Getting a lawyer on your side ensures that no stone is left unturned.

As your claim progresses, your lawyer will handle the logistical process of gathering evidence that you need to show what happened and the harm that it caused. It's common for these cases to conclude in settlements rather than going all the way to a decision by a judge or jury. Your attorney can navigate these negotiations on your behalf, while ensuring that you make informed decisions. If you decide to move ahead to a trial or another contested hearing, your attorney will use their courtroom skill to present your case more smoothly and eloquently than you probably could. They'll understand technical rules and procedures, and they'll know how to make arguments that resonate with a judge or jury.

Finding the lawyer who works best for you may not be easy, even if you get suggestions from coworkers, family members, or other people whom you know and trust. Most people check out attorneys online at some point, using tools such as the Justia Lawyer Directory.

One of the top priorities when looking for an employment attorney is finding someone who has brought claims similar to yours. In other words, you would want an attorney experienced in wage and hour cases if you're trying to get overtime payments from your employer, or if you think that they misclassified you as an independent contractor. Meanwhile, if your boss fired you when you turned down his advances, you should look for a lawyer who has won many sexual harassment cases.

Lawyers and law firms tend to put some of their best results on their websites. It's helpful and potentially exciting to see these numbers, but you should keep them in perspective. You also should look at reviews from clients and fellow attorneys. These can provide insights into a lawyer's interpersonal skills and their reputation in the profession.

Before you sign up with an attorney, you'll want to check their professional record with the Ohio State Bar Association. A single sanction might not be a big deal, but you should think twice about hiring a lawyer who constantly plays fast and loose with the rules. They might make major mistakes or engage in wrongdoing that ends up harming your case.

It's smart to meet with a handful of lawyers before making your choice. This can allow you to compare their assessments of your case, their fee structures, and their overall personalities. You'll want a lawyer who is both knowledgeable in the field and compassionate and respectful toward you. Trust is essential to the success of an attorney-client partnership.

1. Does my employer need to give me a meal break?

   No, neither Ohio law nor federal law requires an employer to provide meal breaks. They also generally don't require rest breaks, although there's an exception for minors. If an employer provides a rest break that lasts between five and 20 minutes, it must be compensated.

2. What happens if a state or local law has a different scope from a federal law?

   If multiple laws apply, the law that is most protective of the employee controls. States and cities can create more rights than what federal law provides, but they can't remove rights provided by federal laws.

3. Does my employer have to keep records of my hours and wages?

   Under Ohio law, employers are generally required to keep accurate records of hours worked and wages paid. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act also requires employers to maintain certain records, including total hours worked each day and total wages paid.

4. Are non-compete agreements enforceable in Ohio?

   Ohio generally allows non-compete agreements if they are reasonable in scope and duration and protect a legitimate business interest. Courts will typically consider factors like the length of time, the geographic region, and the nature of the restrictions. An overly broad or lengthy non-compete clause may be deemed unenforceable. If you're asked to sign a non-compete agreement, you might want to talk to an attorney to make sure that you understand what it entails and how likely it is to be enforced.

5. What will I need to pay my employment lawyer?

   Since many employment attorneys charge fees on an hourly basis, it can be hard to predict exactly how much you'll need to pay. This would depend on the complexity of the case and how far it goes into litigation, among other factors. Some attorneys handle these matters on a contingency basis, though, which means that you would pay them a percentage of the money that they get for you. (You wouldn't pay them anything if they don't get compensation.) This is usually between 25 and 40 percent. If you just need a lawyer to handle a very routine task, you might be able to work out a flat fee. It's essential to understand an attorney's fee structure before signing the representation agreement.