The benefits you receive from your employment law attorney translate into real dollars gained and greater flexibility to act decisively in the face of an increasingly competitive and complex environment. These benefits result from the key services provided and the manner and competence with which they are delivered. These services include:
Employment Law Audit
Unlike the physical exam at your doctor's office, you may only need an employment law audit once, depending on your specific situation. This is a comprehensive review of your compliance with employment laws and regulations, both federal and state. The audit tells you what, if any, employment law issues need attention and what actions you should consider as a result.
Items covered include:
- Legal compliance with federal and state statutes
- Health Insurance Reform Act requirements
- Fair Labor Standards Act regulations governing fair wage and overtime
- Employment applications
- Personnel manuals
- Job descriptions
- Privacy of medical records
- Drug testing, background checks
- Maintenance of personnel records pursuant to the Massachusetts Personnel Records Act
Personnel Policy Manuals
A personnel policy manual is the guidebook by which you manage your employees' work life. It covers such things as vacation policies, job descriptions, standards of performance, standards of conduct, dress codes, overtime policies and so forth. If the rules are not written down in a clear and legally compliant way you may find your hands are tied when you want to make a key decision. Worse, you could already be in violation of state or federal regulations and therefore subject to severe penalties. In general, personnel policies should help companies function more efficiently as well as reduce their legal risk
Job Descriptions, Applications, Termination Documents, etc.
Even if you have a personnel policy manual, you will still need to develop or revise specific employment-related documents as positions, responsibilities and laws change. Working with your employment attorney as you write these documents can ensure these documents stay in sync with your current legal obligations and business objectives.
Situational Intervention
A big customer cancels a contract and now you suddenly find yourself needing to lay off workers. Or a group of employees has just sued you for thousands of dollars in back overtime pay. Or one of your key employees has just opened her own office down the street -- and taken some of your best customers with her. Even the best-managed companies can be blindsided by an employment law issue. And in a down economy such situations are more frequent and tend to be more serious. Like few other areas of the law, intervention in employment law situations calls for experience and perspective. Each situation is different. There are no cookie cutter solutions. That's why we offer situational intervention as a specialty. You'll receive quick access to senior counsel. You'll receive a timely legal opinion. And you'll receive a best-recommended course of action in light of a multitude of factors -- seen and unseen.
On-Call Counsel
You don't always need a "situation" to develop before you want someone on your leadership team you can call for employment law advice. This can be something as quick as a question about whether a salesperson is exempt to a brief brainstorming session on how best to handle a budding office romance. Just knowing you can pick up the phone and call makes a huge difference in your ability to focus.
Team Building and Management Workshops
It's true. Many employees and even managers often fail to read the personnel policies distributed for their benefit. Even when policies are read, employees may be unclear as to how a written policy translates into specific actions. That's why the best way to achieve employment law compliance is often through company-sponsored education sessions. Over the years, we have developed and led many company-sponsored training sessions -- both to educate employees and to encourage greater cooperation among team members. Topics cover a wide range of subjects from "How to Recognize and Avoid Sexual Harassment" to management training such as "Dealing with the Difficult Employee." Please feel free to ask about our workshops and how one might be tailored to fit your specific requirements.
