STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR BUSINESS
Running a business requires 100% of your focus to keep it going, growing and thriving. We know that staying on top of California labor law is complicated. As an employer, you simply do not have time to spend your time and energy on numerous labor laws that change every year. At Artiano & Associates, our employment lawyers are known as “the Lawyers for the Employers” – we are there for them.
As long-time business owners ourselves, we know that issues that arise in this arena can impact your business. We partner with you to handle your employment law headaches so you can focus on the running of your business.
While our first aim is to stop employment-related problems before they happen, when necessary, we strive to solve conflicts as quickly and economically as possible.
EMPLOYMENT LAW & BEYOND
For over 25 years, we have excelled at handling virtually all aspects of labor and employment matters. Our seasoned employment attorneys have dealt with a myriad of employment law matters from assisting clients with compliance matters and drafting their policies and handbooks to guiding our clients through leaves of absence, and proper employee discipline, to terminations, wage and hour claims, wrongful termination, class action and PAGA lawsuits. With us on your team, you can keep your focus where it belongs: running a successful business.
We counsel on nearly every aspect of labor law compliance, procedure, and fulfillment, including:
- Drafting Handbook, Policy and Employment Agreements
- Disciplinary Actions, Writeups and Terminations
- Compliance with state and federal Leaves of Absence, including, amongst others:
- Mandatory Sick Leave
- Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
- Bereavement Leave
- Organ Donor Leave
- Harassment Prevention Training and Policies
- Workplace Investigations
NOT JUST COMPLIANCE: PREVENTATIVE STRATEGIES
Our excellent legal representation assists you in keeping compliant by working alongside to create procedures, policies, forms and strategies with the overall aim of avoiding contentious issues from arising in the first place. We help employers with a variety of services, including hiring procedures, discipline issues, payroll compliance, employee investigations, and even terminations. Additionally, we assist your HR personnel with handbook reviews, development of new procedures, and anti-harassment training.
EXPERIENCED AT SAFEGUARDING YOUR BUSINESS
When issues do arise, our attorneys have the skills and experience to handle them on your behalf. Whether it is a procedure issue, settlement negotiations, arbitration or even a court trial, we are prepared to rigorously represent your interests. We help clients with:
- Senior executive employment contracts and severance
- Wage and hour claims
- Department of Labor hearings
- Discrimination-based conflicts
- Benefits issues
- Unemployment claims and hearings
- Exempt/non-exempt classification
- Employee vs. independent contractor classification
CASE STUDY: EMPLOYEE MISAPPROPRIATES COMPANY ASSETS
An employer had terminated an employee as she had, for the third time, used a company credit card for personal purchases and did not repay the company despite being asked several times. She hired an attorney who contacted the employer and alleged that the employee had, in fact, offered to repay the money, and claimed she was actually terminated for discriminatory reasons before she had a chance to pay them.
The employer contacted a general business attorney who wrote an agreement offering to pay the employee ten thousand dollars. The attorney for the employee came back and said his client would not take any less than $125,000. The employer then hired our firm.
Our attorneys dug deeper into the evidence, questioning the employer and other employees to get the details on what occurred and the important sequence of events. Armed with the details, we then convinced the employee’s attorney that his client was a liar and would make a very poor witness. The matter was then settled for just $2,500 and forgiveness of the debt the employee owed for the personal purchases as the consideration for signing the agreement.
By digging a little deeper, we were able to save our client the money he would have otherwise paid in settlement costs, and also brought it to a quick solution so our client saved on our attorney’s fees. We understand the bottom line.
FAQs
Our firm has a stellar reputation of being known as the Lawyer for the Employer. Our clients have found that having our firm’s attorneys just a phone call or email away is an invaluable resource for them, especially as California employers. With the multitude of state laws in place designed to protect the interests of employees, employers need guidance to protect their businesses and themselves. And, while most employers do not have the financial flexibility to maintain in-house legal departments, we are an as-you-need-us resource for when issues arise.
Forging a strong professional relationship with an experienced employment attorney can ensure that you are prepared to protect the interests of your business through whatever challenges your organization may face.
Absolutely. Many businesses who have their own HR Departments have them work with us and give the HR Professionals authority to contact our attorneys with the more challenging situations.
Absolutely. We have clients both small and large and counsel employers who have between 2 and 250 employees.
While most California state laws, especially of late, are geared to provide additional rights to employees, there are still a number of laws that give employers some options. Employers do have may rights over employees they may not realize. For example, employers dictate job responsibilities, hours of work, or whether they offer vacation or holiday pay, to name a few. And one of the most important laws at an employer’s disposal is the at-will employment law in California.
The at-will law is meant to even out the playing field for both employers and employees, allowing either party to end a working relationship at any time, with or without prior notice. If you need to remove an employee for any reason, or for no reason, you have the option to do so. Our lawyers can help you termination swill not face any legal blowback from making conscientious decisions about your organization.
The most important documents an employment lawyer should help with are the ones that set out the terms and expectations of the employment relationship, as well as those that end the relationship. From employment contracts for management personnel to the required leave of absence documentation, to disciplinary write-ups and severance agreements.
Contracts for high-level personnel are of importance as the documents will set out the expectations for both sides. Severance Agreements are most important, as both federal and state laws have specific requirements of what must be included, what cannot be included as well as certain timetables that must be followed.
Definitely. You probably already know that starting a business can be a complex process. You may need assistance obtaining the appropriate licensing, forming the correct type of corporation, creating partnership and founder contracts, and establishing formal company policies.
It is equally important that you also comply with all applicable employment laws. The employment attorneys in our firm can guide you through the process of starting off your business with compliant practices and policies, including whether you can pay certain employees a set salary or are required to be hourly paid, as well as whether your worker can be a 1099 Independent Contractor or must be an employee.
While the most important way an employment lawyer can help is to assist you with putting policies in place to keep employee disputes to a minimum, if they do happen, our attorneys are very familiar with what the next steps are that must or should be taken. For instance, if an employee complains that they are being discriminated against, there are certain timetables that must be followed once the employer knows about the complaint or possible discrimination.
It is vital to know what the steps are that you must take. Our employment lawyers can ensure you comply with state and federal laws in all such cases.
First, your employment law attorney can handle your most pressing employment law matters with expertise, allowing you to remain focused on running your business.
Second, the right employment lawyer can provide flexible and responsive legal counsel when you need it most, protecting the interests of your business and its future.
The costs will vary depending on the amount of time that is needed. As a business owner, it is crucial for you to measure every dollar spent maintaining your company. Investing in getting the right legal advice provides a tremendous return on the investment for your bottom line and your peace of mind.
Our billing practices are explained carefully in our engagement contracts, so our clients are aware up-front what they will be charged for. We maximize all time spent working on our clients’ legal matters to ensure the greatest possible return on investment and build the strongest possible professional relationships with our clients in Torrance.
CONTACT LAWYERS WHO KNOW CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT LAW
Artiano & Associates has the comprehensive experience and skills in California employment law to help you through any employment law issue. Call us at 310-543-1240 or email us at info@artianolaw.com to set up a consultation.
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