Practice area
Employment Law for Employers
Employment risk accumulates quietly. It builds through inherited offer letter templates, classifications never revisited, policies that no longer match practice, and separations handled under time pressure. Most of it is manageable in advance, and considerably more expensive afterward.
The issues
What this work involves.
- Classification and pay practices
- Employee versus independent contractor, exempt versus non-exempt, overtime and timekeeping, and the recordkeeping that supports each determination. Rules differ by jurisdiction and change.
- Employment agreements and covenants
- Offer letters, confidentiality and invention assignment, non-solicitation and non-competition terms, and the wide variation in how different states treat restrictive covenants.
- Policies and handbooks
- Handbooks that reflect what the company actually does, leave and accommodation processes, remote and multi-state work, and policy updates when the company enters a new jurisdiction.
- Complaints and investigations
- Receiving and responding to internal complaints, scoping and conducting investigations, documenting findings, and managing the risk of retaliation claims that follow.
- Separations and workforce change
- Individual terminations, performance documentation, separation and release agreements, reductions in force, and the notice obligations that can apply to larger reductions.
When counsel helps
Points at which a business usually needs advice.
- 01
The company has hired its first employees in a state where it has not operated before.
- 02
Contractors are performing work that resembles employment.
- 03
A handbook has not been reviewed since it was adopted, or was adapted from another company.
- 04
An internal complaint has been raised and someone needs to decide how to investigate it.
- 05
A termination is planned and the company wants the process and documentation reviewed first.
- 06
A reduction in force is being considered and selection criteria need to be examined.
Our approach
How we handle the work.
We advise employers, and we say so plainly. Knowing where a firm sits is useful information for everyone involved.
We prefer to be involved before a decision is made rather than after. A termination reviewed in advance is a routine matter; the same termination reviewed afterward is a defense.
We keep policies aligned with practice. A handbook describing a process the company does not follow creates more exposure than no handbook at all.
We flag where the answer depends on jurisdiction, because in employment law it frequently does, and a rule that holds in one state may not hold in the next.
Relevant services
- Worker classification review
- Offer letters and employment agreements
- Confidentiality and invention assignment agreements
- Restrictive covenant drafting and enforceability review
- Handbooks and standalone policies
- Multi-state and remote workforce policy alignment
- Manager training on documentation and complaints
- Internal investigations and findings memoranda
- Separation and release agreements
- Reduction-in-force planning and selection review
- Wage and hour practice audits
- Response to agency charges and demand letters
Practical next steps
What to do before you speak to anyone.
- 01
Map the workforce
List where people actually work, how each is classified, and what agreement each signed. Multi-state teams often carry obligations nobody has assigned to an owner.
- 02
Compare policy to practice
Read the handbook against what managers actually do. Gaps between the two are where most claims find their footing.
- 03
Pause before an irreversible step
A short review before a termination, investigation or reduction usually costs less than the same review afterward.
Other practice areas
Next step
Start with the situation, not the category.
Describe what is happening in a few lines. We will tell you whether it falls into this area, what handling it would involve, and how it would be scoped and priced.
We typically respond within one business day.