Employment Issues in Business Transactions
When businesses undergo significant transformations and transitions, such as in mergers and acquisitions, asset dispositions, or business reorganizations, the employee factor is equally as important as the financial and operational aspects of the changed entity. Retaining the intellectual capital, client relationships, and institutional knowledge possessed by your employees, while complying with technical and legal requirements associated with change-in-control transactions, is critical for effective business transition.
With a fully integrated network of lawyers located on five continents, our Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety lawyers are able to tap the knowledge and resources of our complementary practices—such as employee benefits and intellectual property—to deliver cohesive and comprehensive solutions and services to meet the legal as well as practical business needs of our business clients.
Our Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety lawyers advise clients with all employee-related issues involved in a business transaction, such as:
- Review of due diligence materials to assess risk
- Integration of employees from newly acquired companies
- Reclassification of workers
- Reductions in force or plant closures
- Addition or elimination of positions
- Modification of employment practices or policies
We advise our clients regarding the related employment and labor risks in these transactions—such as existing collective bargaining agreements, noncompliance that could result in litigation, and severance arrangements—and how best to mitigate those risks. We also help clients put in place agreements that help meet business objectives, such as employment, retention, severance, holdback, and change of control agreements.
