Employment law can be one of the most pressing concerns for any company, from a start-up hiring its first employee to a conglomerate facing a class action.  K&L Gates’ labor and employment lawyers can help make sense of the increasing array of employment laws, regulations and court decisions, responding to employment issues, offering counsel regarding policies and compliance, and acting as litigator or advocate when an employment or labor claim does arise.

K&L Gates represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Asia.  We defend all types of employment litigation, including whistleblower claims, enforcement of non-competition agreements, and discrimination and wage and hour class actions.  We prepare employment policies and counsel on complex employment issues.  We represent management in collective bargaining, arbitration, unfair labor practice proceedings, and representation matters under the U.S. National Labor Relations Act and the U.S. Railway Labor Act.  We guide employers in compliance with occupational safety and health laws, immigration laws and Office of Federal Contract Compliance requirements.  In conjunction with our business lawyers, we assist in both due diligence and structuring business transactions to comply with applicable employment and labor laws, including Sarbanes Oxley.

We provide counsel to a wide range of private and public employers, from multi-national companies with thousands of employees in numerous and distant locations, to companies with one site and relatively few employees.  Our clients span a broad range of industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, retail, banking, manufacturing, broadcasting, construction, financial services, health care and governmental entities. 

With extensive knowledge of labor and employment laws, and significant experience in governmental, judicial and arbitration forums, we are highly qualified to provide clients with solid advice and representation in all employment and labor concerns.

• Personnel Management & Statutory Compliance 
• Employment Litigation Defense 
• Business Transactions
• Labor
• Wage and Hour
• U.K. Practice
• Germany Practice
• Asia Practice

Personnel Management & Statutory Compliance Practice
More than one-third of today’s U.S. federal court docket consists of employment-related litigation brought by private citizens or governmental agencies.  Effective personnel management is an important means of minimizing the number of such lawsuits an employer faces and increasing the likelihood of success when suit is filed.  We assist our clients in attaining that goal by providing counsel on the increasingly technical requirements of employment laws, regulations and court decisions.  We regularly provide advice, counsel and training on all aspects of employment law, including:

• Employee handbooks and personnel policies, including preparation, revision or review of handbooks and policies.
  
  
• Reductions in force, including pre-RIF workforce analysis and review of proposed RIFs to minimize employer liability under plant closing, employment discrimination and various other federal and state laws.
  
  
• Human Resources audits, including review of all policies and practices to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, recommend best practices and reduce potential liabilities.
  
  
• Affirmative action issues, including plan preparation and defense of government audits.
  
  
• Substance abuse, including preparation or revision of drug and alcohol policies under federal laws such as the Drug-Free Workplace Act and regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, increasingly restrictive state laws, and collectively bargained drug and alcohol agreements.
  
  
• Problem employees, including guidance for supervisors managing problem employees and assistance to management handling performance, discipline and termination issues.
  
  
• Workplace security, including policies and procedures to protect employees and employers from injury and liability; policies relating to monitoring of employee telephone, electronic mail and voice mail usage as well as searches of desks, lockers, computers, etc.; and the legal aspects of undercover investigations.
  
  
• Attendance and leave of absence issues, including preparation of policies implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act with special emphasis on practical administration and overlap with disability discrimination laws, other family and medical leave laws, and workers’ compensation statutes.
  
  
• ADA, Title VII and ADEA issues, including counseling on disciplinary actions, hiring and firing, retaliation and reasonable accommodation issues.
  
  
• Management training, including training on harassment prevention, hostile workplace issues, handling EEO cases, dealing with problem employees and conducting performance reviews.
  
  
• Unemployment compensation, including advice and representation at hearings and appeals involving employee dismissals and strikes or lockouts.
  
  
• OSHA/MSHA issues, including representation of employers from the beginning of an investigation through its final resolution.
  
  
• Immigration issues, including compliance with employee work authorization requirements, obtaining employment-based non-immigrant work visas (E, H, L, O and P visas), and filing employment-based permanent residence petitions.
  
  
• Employment agreements, including negotiation and/or drafting of executive employment agreements, non-compete and confidentiality agreements, invention and nondisclosure agreements, and severance agreements.
  
  
• Insurance coverage, including advice in obtaining employment practices liability insurance, review of policies, and evaluation of coverage in specific employment disputes.
  
  
• Sexual harassment training and investigations.

Employment Litigation Defense Practice
Employment-related legislation and rule-making has expanded considerably in recent years.  An increasing percentage of today’s U.S. federal court docket consists of employment-related litigation brought by private citizens or governmental agencies.  A more recent development is the extensive use of class and collective action lawsuits by lawyers for employees.  Surveys show that plaintiffs are prevailing in the majority of jury verdicts with damage awards in the millions of dollars.  With an increasing number of lawsuits and growth in the size of damages awards, the need for practical, cost-conscious and experienced defense counsel has increased dramatically.  The K&L Gates employment law group includes seasoned trial lawyers across the firm’s offices with the experience and judgment to resolve cases and try cases effectively as the needs of the client demand.  Our lawyers defend employers in the following forums:

• Federal agencies, including defense of employment discrimination charges, affirmative action audits, wage and hour investigations, family and medical leave disputes, and occupational safety and health proceedings.
  
  
• State and local agencies, including defense of employment discrimination charges and complaints; and unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, and wage payment claims.
  
  
• Federal courts, including defense of lawsuits involving employment discrimination, wage and hour issues, the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act and the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
  
  
• State courts, including defense of lawsuits involving employment discrimination, unjust dismissal, whistleblower claims, and employment-related tort and contract complaints.
  
  
• Alternate dispute forums, such as AAA and NASD arbitrations, raising the full panoply of employment-related claims.

K&L Gates employment litigators handle cases from the threat of litigation to conclusion, including individual actions as well as the most complex collective and class actions.  We have trial lawyers with a proven track record strategically located in our U.S. offices from Alaska to Boston as well as in London.  As the world has moved increasingly toward an information-based economy, the firm’s high-tech client base and our lawyers’ technical sophistication has made us exceptionally well suited to litigate employment issues in high-tech and other modern industries with considerable intellectual property rights issue, from the protection of such employer rights in the face of increased employee mobility to assistance in formulation of complex stock compensation issues.

Business Transactions
Lawyers in the firm’s Labor and Employment Labor Group have served on teams representing clients in major business transactions, including large international mergers and acquisitions.  Such transactions frequently involve the combination of workforces and the addition or elimination of positions.  We assist our clients in assessing the employment practices and potential liabilities of acquired or merged companies.  Additionally, the parties to large business transactions are likely subject to employment policies, arrangements or contracts, including collective bargaining agreements and severance contracts, which must be addressed within the context of the transaction.  Lawyers in our practice group assist in addressing these issues and in a way that is consistent with the business needs and objectives of our clients.

Labor Practice
K&L Gates labor lawyers have decades of experience representing employers whose workforces are unionized.  Our experienced labor lawyers are located throughout the firm’s U.S. offices and their experience encompasses a wide range of labor law issues facing management:

• Management training, including legal rights and responsibilities of companies actually or potentially confronting union challenges.
  
  
• Election campaigns, including representation in NLRB proceedings, legal review of campaign materials, and legal and practical advice on day-to-day issues that arise during a campaign.
  
  
• Collective bargaining, including serving as chief negotiator or confidential strategist, drafting of contract provisions, and advising on legal obligations and rights.
  
  
• Contract interpretation, including legal advice regarding management rights, contractual disputes, disciplinary action and dismissals.
  
  
• Grievances and arbitrations, including legal advice during the grievance procedure and representation at arbitration hearings.
  
  
• Unfair labor practices, including preparation of position statements for the NLRB, advocating the client's position at the NLRB, representation in hearings before administrative law judges, and appeals to federal court.
  
  
• Work stoppages, including legal advice regarding rights and responsibilities of employees on strike and management.
  
  
• Decertification, including legal and practical advice regarding withdrawal of union recognition and representation in NLRB decertification proceedings.
  
  
• Railway Labor Act, including organizational campaigns, National Mediation Board and Surface Transportation Board proceedings, collective bargaining, arbitrations, labor issues in mergers and acquisitions, and railroad retirement and unemployment matters.

Wage and Hour
K&L Gates employment lawyers provide a full range of representation on wage and hour matters, including wage payment, worker classification and child labor matters.

We regularly provide advice on issues relating to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act as well as parallel state laws, including: tracking hours worked, calculation of regular rates and overtime wages, whether individuals qualify as statutory employees, classification of exempt employees, and innovative methods for minimizing uncontrolled payroll expenses.  We also draft or assist clients with preparation of compensation policies and plans for bonuses, commissions, and other forms of incentive compensation.

We have extensive experience dealing with audits and investigations by the United States Department of Labor and its state counterparts.  We can assist with initial information requests and interviews, help assemble information to respond to the agency’s initial conclusions, and provide representation in any subsequent challenges and administrative appeals that are necessary.

Our lawyers also have extensive experience litigating wage and hour issues in state and federal courts.  We understand how to handle small statutory and contract wage disputes in an efficient manner.  We also understand how to manage complex class actions.  In fact, our lawyers have handled dozens of wage and hour class actions, involving potential classes of hundreds of thousands of employees and potential damages of hundreds of millions of dollars.  Whether a case is big or small, our objective is our clients’ success.  We use our wage and hour experience to avoid or minimize any liability for our clients.

U.K. Practice
U.K. employment law provides a considerable amount of protection to employees.  U.K. legislation is in force to protect employees’ rights in relation to such areas as discrimination; unfair dismissal; working hours; annual holiday; minimum wage; maternity, paternity and parental leave; and privacy at work.  U.K. employment law is also heavily influenced by European employment initiatives.  For example, since 1981, employees in a business which is being purchased have the right to be employed by the new owner of the business on the same terms and conditions of employment.  Further, beginning in April 2005, large U.K. employers have been under an obligation, for the first time, to establish works councils and to consult those works councils about the future conduct of the business.  K&L Gates’ U.K. employment lawyers are well experienced in helping employers to achieve sensible, practical and commercial solutions to difficult situations.  We provide advice and training on all aspects of employment law.

U.K. Employment Law Services
We offer analogous services to the Personnel Management and Statutory Compliance Practice Services listed above.  Of particular relevance to the U.K. are the following:

• Performance Management.  We help employers to deal with problems caused by long-term and short-term sickness absence.  We also offer constructive solutions to problems posed by the under-performing employee.
  
  
• Employee Handbooks and Personnel Policies.  We advise on, draft and update employment handbooks, contracts of employment and policies.  We advise on the day-to-day application of these documents to the employment relationship and we ensure that employers have the maximum possible protection available to them when dealing with difficult situations.  In particular, we ensure that employment documentation complies with the latest statutory requirements, including the provisions of the Employment Act of 2002 which came into force on October 1, 2004 relating to disciplinary and grievance procedures.
  
  
• Redundancy Programs.  Redundancies are a fact of life in all industries.  We advise employers on how to comply with their consultation procedures, devise selection criteria to fit the needs of the business going forward and calculate redundancy entitlements upon termination.
  
  
• Compromise Agreements.  We are well experienced in advising on the exit of senior executives, in negotiating appropriate severance packages and drawing up legally binding documentation to record the terms of settlement and to prevent claims from being brought against the employer.
  
  
• Monitoring and Surveillance.  We advise employers on the policies which need to be put into place to allow employers to lawfully monitor employees’ use of Internet, e-mail and other communications systems.

U.K. Employment Litigation and Defense Practice
High-profile employment claims are commonplace and large awards to employees are regularly reported in the news.  With the plethora of statutory employment rights available to employees, employers now, more than ever, need to be able to rely on their advisers to deal with these claims in a way which is practical and proactive, while conscious of minimizing costs and disruption to the employer’s business.  Our lawyers represent employers in the following jurisdictions:

• Employment Tribunals, where most employment claims are heard, which has its own particular rules of procedure;
  
  
• County Courts and High Courts, which usually deal with more valuable breach of contract claims and injunction applications to enforce restrictive covenants; and
  
  
• Appellate Courts, including the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and House of Lords.

K&L Gates handles cases from the threat of litigation through to final judgments.  We are experienced in the full range of employment cases, including unfair, constructive and wrongful dismissal, whistleblowing, all forms of discrimination, claims under the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Part-Time Workers’ Regulation 2000, and the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002.  We also bring and defend proceedings involving confidential information, non-compete clauses and non-solicitation clauses relating to employees and clients.

U.K. Labor Practice
Since the beginning of the Labour Government, trade unions have begun to regain the strength which they had prior to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government.  Employers are now faced with an increasing number of statutory recognition procedures.  We advise employers on the procedure to follow in dealing with such applications and in negotiating and implementing voluntary agreements

Germany Practice
Given the highly regulated labor market in Germany, companies from the United States are well advised to seek skilled counsel in any transaction that may affect German employees. We provide advice and counsel on all types of employment and labor matters in Germany and are able to assist with employment disputes brought by any of the German agencies charged with labor law responsibility.

Our employment-related dispute resolution capability in Germany includes the following:

• Defense against suits for dismissal protection
• Liability of directors and officers
• Disputes between works councils and employers in all fields of the law on the works constitution
• Enforcement of agreements on restrictions to competition (covenants not to compete)
• Defense against suits for benefits in cases of complex sets of rules governing the claims of directors and offices or employees

In addition to dispute resolution, we advise employers with German operations on matters including:

• Establishing management incentive schemes
• Structuring of policies on compensation and benefits, including pensions
• Stock option schemes
• Bonuses
• Ratchets
• Employment due diligence for corporate transactions
• Pension issues in transaction deal documentation

Asia Practice
Cross-border transactions often involve labor, employment, benefits or immigration issues. Through the K&L Gates offices in Asia, we advise clients on a range of human resource and labor and employment issues. We counsel clients on employment aspects of investments or transactions inbound into China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. In addition, we offer Asia-based clients investing in the U.S. and U.K. labor and employment advice services for outbound investments.

Inbound to Asia Practice
Our K&L Gates Asia employment practice includes:

• Advice on employment and labor issues in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Clients investing in or operating businesses in Greater China need to ensure they are in compliance with local requirements.  In some cases, compliance may not be the market or industry norm.  We assist clients in identifying areas of concern and design and implement rectification programs where necessary.
  
  
• Advice on the employment of foreign nationals and application for employment visas and cross border tax issues.  We assist clients and their executives with application for the necessary status to work in the region.  Working with tax advisors, we also assist the company and executives in devising structures for the efficient deployment of executives and personnel within the region. 
  
  
• Assistance in preparation of employment contracts, protection of intellectual property and stock option plans and other benefits.  The protection of IP rights can be critical for companies.  We assist clients in the preparation of employment contracts to ensure the clients' IP rights are protected to the extent possible.  We also help design stock option plans to ensure they comply with local tax, foreign exchange and ownership of foreign securities laws.
  
  
• Resolution of labor disputes and termination issues.  When an employment relationship must be terminated, we assist clients in resolving these through negotiations and, where necessary, arbitration or litigation.  We  have been successful in our involvement in some of the most high profile non-competition litigation dealing with executives in China.

Outbound to U.S./U.K. Practice
K&L Gates attorneys in the U.S. and U.K. advise investors from foreign markets on labor and employment issues including:

• Merger, acquisition and joint venture transactions involving Asia parties
  
  
• Visa and immigration issues for local executive placement
  
  
• Labor and employment laws applicable to U.S. and U.K. facilities of foreign-owned enterprises
  
  
• Dispute resolution, including litigation, arbitration and mediation of labor and employment issues
  
  
• Employment agreements, non-compete agreements and collective bargaining agreements
  
  
• Advice and counsel including workplace training for managers and supervisors and employee policy and procedure preparation

Keeping Clients Up-To-Date
K&L Gates periodically publishes K&L Gates Alerts, and U.K. Employment Law Updates to keep employers up to date on employment law issues and to provide practical advice on how to handle workplace situations. We also offer breakfast briefings and workshops to keep clients aware of emerging employment and labor law issues and the potential impact on their businesses.