Facing workplace discrimination can leave you feeling confused, overwhelmed and defeated.

You're just trying to survive another day, so anything on top of that may feel like too much. We get it, but we also know you don’t want to leave yourself vulnerable to harm and without options once it’s too late.

So in this guide, we’ve listed 5 simple actions you can do today that you’ll thank yourself for later.

Civil rights agencies are tasked with enforcing civil rights laws that protect employees from discrimination. You can open a complaint against your employer with these agencies for free and they will investigate, but it’s important to be aware that they have strict deadlines that dictate how long you’ll have to file your claims after the last incident of discrimination occurred.

If you live in a state that doesn’t have it’s own civil rights agency, your only option is file with the EEOC and you’ll only have 180 days (~6 months) to do that. In states with their own civil rights agencies, the timeline to file with the EEOC is a bit longer at 300 days (~10 months), but the clock is ticking as soon as the last incident of discrimination occurred.

At the state level, filing deadlines can vary from six months to several years, so you’ll need to check first if your state has it’s own agency and then how long you’ll have to file.

You can learn more about who these agencies are and how they work in The Government Agencies That Investigate Workplace Discrimination Guide.