Employment Law

The firm has significant experience assisting a wide variety of state, regional and national clients in complying with state and federal laws concerning the conduct of employers and in developing policies and procedures to manage employees to reduce the risk of regulatory action or litigation. In our practice, we advise clients at all stages of matters involving:

• Recruiting and hiring
• Classification of exempt and non-exempt employees and independent contractors, including preparation of appropriate job descriptions
• Employee discipline
• Performance evaluations and performance improvement plans
• Individual terminations
• Group layoffs and severance programs, including WARN Act compliance and analysis of impact on affected groups
• FMLA and other state and federal leave-related matters
• Disability management under the ADA, similar state statutes and workers’ compensation laws
• Wage and hour compliance under FLSA and state laws
• Workplace safety
• Policy manuals and employer practices
• Sexual harassment and discrimination claims
• Development and execution of audit programs

We also draft and negotiate the numerous agreements and documents arising in connection with these matters, including personnel policy manuals, offer letters, employment contracts, non-competition agreements, executive compensation and severance agreements.

The firm has successfully represented numerous clients before the EEOC, state discrimination agencies and in state and federal courts. We have often been able to avoid formal proceedings through effective intervention at the early stages of a dispute.

Training Programs. Jeffers Cowherd develops and conducts customized training programs for clients in numerous areas, including discrimination and sexual harassment prevention, compliance with FMLA and ADA, interviewing techniques and hiring practices, litigation avoidance and management development.

Investigations. Our attorneys are sometimes asked by clients to act in the role of investigator for sensitive matters, such as complaints of harassment or other forms of discrimination, when clients do not have the appropriate internal resources or, for strategic reasons, decide not to use those resources to conduct an investigation. In addition, the firm advises and represents clients who face audits by federal or state agencies in connection with matters such as classification of exempt, non-exempt and independent workers, timekeeping records and overtime calculations.

Employee Representation. While the main focus of our employment law practice is the representation of employers, our firm also represents executives in connection with the negotiation of employment contracts, non-competition agreements and severance agreements.