Employment-related claims can affect the productivity and morale of a business unit in a way few other business disputes can. Not surprisingly then, employment claims are among the most tempting to settle quickly. Yet in the author's experience, an employer's record of early settlements with employees inspires the plaintiffs' bar. To avoid painting a bulls-eye on your company's back, you should develop a deliberate protocol for handling employment-related claims that discourages recreational or speculative claims.
All employers have employees. Learn what preventative strategies work to prevent that multimillion-dollar HR case from being filed.
The last few years have brought big changes in California's employment laws. There's a Private Attorneys General Act, dubbed "the bounty hunter law," that allows private rights of action on many Labor Code provisions, along with new whistleblower protections, and new employee rights to take time off to tend to personal matters. Obviously California employers must pay attention to these changes. Moreover, employers in other parts of the country would be wise to take notice of the legal and legislative developments that have emerged from the Golden State. Taking proactive measures to prevent workplace discrimination and harassment, and ensuring that proper measures are in place to protect whistleblowers and comply with wage and hour laws will go a long way toward establishing a productive workplace and avoiding financially crippling and potentially devastating.
Dealing with employee issues can be as amusing as "A Midsummer Night's Dream," as tragic as "Romeo and Juliet," as perplexing as Hamlet's choice, and at times, as blood as "Macbeth." As the study of Shakespeare is essential to any English major, experience with employment law and related issues is indispensable for the in-house lawyer.
The human resources ("HR") audit is a valuable tool in the in-house counsels risk management toolbox. It can help you to identify and correct weaknesses in HR practices and processes before someone mishandles or overlooks an employment situation, possibly giving rise to litigation. This article gives you practical pointers on how to launch an HR audit, specifically, how to make the business case to your company decision makers, how to select the people who will perform the audit, how to make the audit thorough and meaningful, and how to make effective use of what the audit reveals.
Given the war on terrorism and other military campaigns involving U.S. forces, employers need to thoroughly understand their obligations to employees who must request leave to serve in the military. This article will tell you what you need to know so that you can advise your company as to what it should do under USERRA when the troops get called up and when they come home.
As companies expand their activities in the European market, the time may soon come when, in order to practice, the "transnational in-house lawyer" will have no choice but to seek transnational training and licensing. Despite efforts to create a "single European legal market" for EU lawyers, licensing remains quite difficult for US attorneys. But the rewards are great. This article provides practical information on how US lawyers should proceed in order to get licensed in the EU.
Following the collapse of Enron and other high-profile employee-owned companies, you need to revisit the issues surrounding employee buyouts before your company implements such a plan. This article will outline new regulatory proposals and help you avoid potential pitfalls.
Thanks to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, public companies face potential civil and criminal liability and new internal reporting obligations. Read this article to prepare your company to respond if a whistleblowing complaint comes in.
Companies that adopt forced ranking systems are most vulnerable to age, sex, and race discrimination claims. This article will help you to minimize such risks.