Practice Areas

If you run to an attorney every time you have to make an employment-related decision, you could quickly go broke. This is precisely the reason we offer flat monthly retainers tailored to your desired needs/prospective use (reviewed and negotiated annually).  This arrangement allows an organization to seek immediate initial assistance with the daily employment-related uncertainties that arise in connection with things like evaluations, hiring, discipline, termination, etc.

We work with you to determine which situations require some expert help and which you can handle on your own. Below are a handful of instances you should consider legal counsel for:

EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS:

Below is a non-exhaustive list of situations when you should consider engaging an attorney to review your decision to terminate an employee:

• The worker has a written or oral employment contract that limits your right to terminate;

• The employee may believe they have an implied employment contract limiting your right to terminate;

• The employee has benefits, stock options, or retirement money that are due to vest shortly;

• The employee recently filed a complaint or claim with a government agency, or complained to you of illegal or unethical activity in the workplace;

• The employee recently filed a complaint of discrimination or harassment;

• Terminating the employee would dramatically change your workplace demographics;

• The employee recently revealed they are in a protected class (i.e. employee is pregnant, has a disability, or practices a particular religion);

• You are concerned about the employee's potential for violence, vandalism, or sabotage;

• Employee has access to high-level trade secrets or competitive information of the organization.

• You are terminating employee for excessive absences, if concerned the absences may be covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act;

• The employee denies committing the acts for which you are terminating them, even after an investigation; and

• The employee has hired an attorney to represent them in dealing with you.

EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATIONS:

Classification issues can affect a large portion of your workforce and create a potential for increased liability. Before you classif a certain position as exempt or nonexempt, or label a group of individuals as independent contractors rather than employees, you should consider seeking guidance from an attorney. Misclassification often comes with a hefty price tag, including the possibility of years of unpaid overtime and penalties for multiple employees.

CLAIMS & COMPLAINTS:

We can assist when a current or former employee initiates some kind of adversarial process short of a lawsuit. For example, an employee might file an administrative charge of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a similar state agency. Another situation may be that a former employee might appeal the denial of unemployment benefits.

In these situations, you should at least consult an attorney, if not hire one. Although some employers can and do handle these administrative matters on their own, most could probably benefit from some legal advice on the strength of the employee's claim, how to prepare a response to the charge, how to handle an agency investigation, and how to present evidence at the hearing.

It might be worth engaging legal counsel to represent you if any of the following occur:

• The employee raises serious claims that could result in a large award of damages against you;

• Other employees or former employees have made similar allegations, either to the agency or within the workplace;

• The employee has indicated they intend to file a lawsuit (in this situation, the employee may just be using the administrative proceeding to gather evidence to use against you in court); and

• The employee has hired a lawyer.

CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS:

We are able to quickly review and troubleshoot employment-related agreements you routinely use with your employees, i.e. employment contracts, severance agreements, releases.  We will review your contracts to ensure they contain pertinent and necessary legal terms enforceable by a court.  Our review will detect language you have included that may be problematic or pose risk.  It may also reveal if you have gone beyond what the law requires of your organization.  We provide counsel regarding the appropriate of use for your contracts or various provisions they contain.  The following are several examples to consider:

• You may not want to give severance to every departing employee;
• You may not need enter into an employment contract with every new employee; 
• You do not want to provide a contractor agreement to someone who should be an employee; and
• You do not want to require waiver of rights that may not legally be waived in a separation agreement.

POLICIES, PROCEDURES & HANDBOOKS:

We can provide a thorough legal review of your existing policies, procedures, and handbooks (an annual review should be done to update changes in the law).  A review will assess whether your policies violate laws regarding overtime pay, family leave, final paychecks, or occupational safety and health, among other possible issues.  It will also identify any language that might create unintended obligations towards your employees.  After review we may be able to advise whether you should consider additional policies or procedures.