Labor & Employment

        Veatch Carlson's Labor and Employment Practice Group enjoys an outstanding national reputation, representing employers in virtually all legal areas concerning the formation, maintenance, and termination of employment and collective bargaining relationships.

Services

• Advising employers regarding hiring, employment contracts, compensation, discipline termination matters and workers' compensation matters.
• Representing employers union organizing campaigns, grievance, arbitration and dispute resolution procedures, negotiations, contract administration and decertification proceedings.
• Defending employment discrimination and fair employment practice cases.
• Assisting employers in the design, drafting, modification and implementation of personnel policies and employee handbooks; performance of personnel policy audits.
• Guiding employers in connection with all aspects of wage and hour compliance and the defense of government wage and hour audits.
• Advising clients regarding the legal and practical issues relating to drug and alcohol testing, lie detector examinations and honesty tests.
• Informing employers regarding privacy issues in the work place, employer responsibilities relating to the content of and access to personnel files and legal concerns emanating from employee investigations.
• Representing employers in wrongful discharge litigation.
• Advising employers regarding the use of and issues associated with arbitration agreements for non-union employees.
• Facilitating compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) rules and defending OSHA audits and claims.
• Representing employers in employee benefit matters, including health, welfare, benefit trust, reporting and disclosure, COBRA, and disability insurance issues, as well as ERISA litigation.
• Advising employers concerning labor issues relating to layoffs, sales, mergers, acquisitions, relocations, reorganizations and business closings.
• Counseling employers concerning affirmative action obligations and legal requirements that arise from government contracts.
• Advising employers on leaves of absence, including family and medical leaves, workers' compensation leaves, alcohol and drug rehabilitation leaves, and leaves necessitated by pregnancy-related disabilities.
• Formulating legislation, regulations, and representation of employers in potential landmark cases of benefit to clients and the employer community.

Clients
        While representing a diverse group of employers in many industries, the Labor and Employment Practice Group has also been asked to represent employers in a number of landmark cases that have widespread significance for employers in all industries. In addition to the California Chamber of Commerce, the Group has represented trade associations in the healthcare, manufacturing, construction, retail, financial, hospitality, hotel, restaurant, real estate, temporary staffing, theatre and motion picture industries.

Education & Prevention
       Veatch Carlson stresses educating and assisting its clients to avoid expensive legal disputes. Besides providing our clients with current awareness information on employment law developments, members of the Labor and Employment Practice Group are frequently selected to lecture on employment topics. These programs offer employers guidance regarding the manner of complying with their obligations under state and federal law, methods of avoiding litigation and other legal disputes and protecting their own interests as well as those of their employees.

        As a service to clients, members of the Practice Group also present in-house programs for supervisors and management representatives. These programs often address a number of diverse topics, including wage and hour, employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, union organizing, sexual harassment, safety, and employee privacy.

Legislative & Regulatory Representation
        In addition to its expertise in judicial and administrative proceedings, the Employment and Labor Practice Group has also successfully advanced the interests of its clients in the legislative forum. As a result of its efforts, the Group is directly responsible for a number of important changes to the California Labor Code and the Wage Orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission that have benefited the Group's clients and the employer community as a whole. These include changes to the state overtime and exemption rules, flexible scheduling options and changes to unemployment insurance laws.