They'll teach you business management and some types of economics in high school (electives), but as far as I know they don't teach you simple things about labor law. Things people really ought to know. Bread and butter stuff about overtime laws, etc.
"At will" -- your employer can fire you at any time, for any or no reason -- is one simple thing that I don't ever remember hearing about in school. (Or that you can quit at any time for any or no reason -- and your boss can sure make you look like hell in a reference if you do, but not vice versa in any meaningful way.) I had to do a lot of extensive research even into just finding out how to officially do a union certification in the workplace. For NLRB recognition. It was like researching ancient alchemy. The knowledge can be esoteric. And complicated. By esoteric, I really do mean hidden knowledge -- yet it ought to be taught before kids get out of school.
The radical union thing is to ignore NLRB stuff and "have the union anyway," and screw legal recognition. But there are problems with that. Pretty complex.
-B.
Steven L. Robinson wrote:
"I am surprized that a lot of people don't know about employment "at will" - that an individual can be fired for any or no reason. Unless you are self employed, work in a union shop or work for the government, you can be fired at a moment's notice. It is in virtually every employee handbook and on many employment applications, altho not usually emphasized at the outset of the employment relationship. Once you know about it, though, it is scary. You can lose your means of sustenance at a moment's notice, on the whim of a boss."