The employment laws are notoriously arcane and complex. Employers have to comply with a confusing patchwork of federal, state and local laws while also running a business.
We can help you navigate these laws, and address issues before they arise rather than waiting until you receive a pre-litigation letter from an employee or a government agency.
We provide counseling on compliance with all aspects of employment law including:
- Wage and hour laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law;
- Federal anti-discrimination laws including Title VII;
- State anti-discrimination law including the New York State Human Rights Law, the New York City Human Rights Law, and various county-level anti-discrimination laws
- Leave laws including the Family Medical Leave Act, the New York Paid Family Leave Law, and New York City's Earned Sick Time Act (Paid Sick Leave Law) ;
- Onboarding requirements including initial pay notifications, offer letters and employment; agreements
- Non-compete agreements;
- Non-solicitation agreements;
- Non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements;
- Properly structuring independent contractor agreements to avoid scrutiny;
- COBRA and ERISA requirements;
- Employee severance agreements;
- Covid-related issues; and
- Pre-litigation negotiations and de-escalation.
We have also helped employers with matters before government agencies including the department of labor and the National Labor Relations Board. Our successes include:
- Representing a tutoring company that was accused of misclassifying independent contractors by the New York State Department of Labor and was being threatened with a fine of nearly $500,000. We were able to have the case thrown out, no fine was assessed;
- Assisting a yoga studio that was audited by the New York State Department of Labor. The Department of Labor found that the studio properly classified its yoga teachers as independent contractors;
- Representing a bakery that was accused of misclassifying workers as independent contractors and retaliating against them.
