Employment Counseling and Training

Advice and Counsel on Workplace Issues

We counsel employers of all sizes in a wide range of industries on all workplace issues, including:

• Hiring and onboarding, including background checks, drug testing, work visas and employee classification.
• Performance management, discipline and terminations.
• Leaves of absence, sick time, paid leave and accommodation issues.
• Employee complaints, including how to properly investigate, document and respond to them.
• Reductions in force and plant closings, including WARN Act notices.
• Compensation, including minimum wage, overtime, tips, service charges, compensable time, meal and rest periods, travel time, off-the-clock work, rounding practices, pay equity, wage deductions, commissions and bonuses.
• Advice on contingent workforces and avoiding misclassification of employees, independent contractors, joint employment staff, temporary staff, gig workers and interns.

• Compliance programs and codes of conduct for companies in highly regulated and competitive areas.

Heavily regulated by federal, state and local laws, and our nationwide team ensures that our clients are in compliance with these oftentimes varying and nuanced laws.

Documents and Forms

We draft and revise all employment-related documents, including:

• Onboarding/hiring documents, including employment applications, offer letters and employment agreements.
• Confidentiality agreements, noncompete and non-solicitation agreements, and IP/work-for-hire agreements.
• Leave of absence forms.
• Retention agreements, severance agreements and termination letters.
• EEO-1 Component 2 filing requirements.
• Independent contractor agreements.
• Wage-related forms, including wage notices, wage deduction authorization forms, commission agreements, bonus plans, tip forms, missed punch forms and more.

Employee Handbooks and Employment Policies

In a time of constant change in employment law, and where unclear or outdated policies and procedures often have costly repercussions, we provide straightforward guidance that reduces risk and protects your business. Our team drafts and revises employee handbooks, policies and notices in accordance with federal, state and local laws, all while ensuring that the policies and procedures are consistent with our clients’ goals and corporate culture.

Workplace Audits

We partner with our clients to perform a thorough review of their corporate and management documents as well as workplace policies and practices to identify and resolve potential violations of the law before someone else (i.e., an employee, a government agency or a court of law) discovers such violations. We also help clients assess their compliance and readiness regarding hot-button issues such as wage and hour, discrimination, sexual harassment, immigration, social media use and unionization.

Training

We provide training for management and non-managers on various workplace issues, including:

• Equal employment opportunity, discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment) and retaliation.
• Performance management and discipline.
• Leave of absence requirements and processes.
• Wage and hour issues.

Our team conducts live training sessions in person, by phone or by webinar.

We also offer one-on-one coaching for executives and managers.

Compliance Programs

We review, establish and further develop compliance programs to prevent and detect issues for companies in highly regulated and competitive areas.

We also draft codes of conduct as well as whistleblowing reporting policies for companies to implement among their workforces to further prevent and resolve workplace issues. In doing so, we assist clients in reducing the risk of noncompliance with the various laws and regulations governing the workplace, internal reporting, and the risks of potential liability and penalties.

In addition, we advise companies on employment and regulatory compliance issues in heavily regulated industries including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation, energy and financial services. We work with our attorneys who possess substantive expertise in these industries and others to craft programs designed to match the needs of the particular client and its industry. Because of our collaborative approach among our offices and practice groups:

• We have the industry experience to assess risks related to employees; we identify client’s specific issues and provide solutions.
• We offer practical advice: realistic, clear, specific tasks that are tailored to our clients' size, sophistication and industry in order to address whistleblower issues and mitigate the risks of retaliation claims.
• We assist with training and implementation, including monitoring and auditing compliance metrics.
• We assess and update programs already in place.
• We advise companies facing particular risk areas such as expanding into new geographic or product markets and merging or acquiring new business units or employee groups.
• Where appropriate, we identify and assist with implementation of remedial and corrective measures.