What Does an Employment Attorney Do?

Have you ever wondered, “What does an employment attorney do?” Or, more importantly, what can an employment attorney do for you?

Labor and Employment attorneys can protect the rights of both employers and employees and help both parties reach a resolution in the event of a dispute between them. From wrongful termination, discrimination, and wage equality to creating new employee handbooks or codes of conduct and resolving employment agreement disputes, employment attorneys handle just about any form of dispute or guidance regarding the workplace and its conditions.

If you or someone you know has been fired unlawfully, denied wages, or is facing workplace retaliation or if you’re business owner wanting to ensure compliance with safe and secure workplace conditions, you might want to consider consulting a labor and employment attorney.

What Does an Employment Attorney Do for Employees?

Labor and employment lawyers work to ensure workers’ rights are protected, and that employees are treated fairly. This culminates in a wide range of cases including wage and hour disputes, contract issues, retaliation, whistleblower protections, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and more.

There are several laws and statues protecting worker rights and establishing provisions for creating fair and safe workplaces, including but not limited to laws such as:

• Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), which establishes standards for minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment.

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

• Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, including, but not limited to, in the workplace.

• Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), which enables workers to take reasonable (up to 12 weeks) unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons.
• State-specific laws and statutes, for example, California Labor Code Section 268, Pennsylvania’s Construction Workplace Misclassification Act (Act 72), and the new Senate Bill that just passed in New York (S1514), which protect workers from being improperly classified and being denied minimum wage, overtime, meal periods, and rest breaks, among other things.

In accordance with these laws and statutes, labor and employment attorneys can help individuals pursue federal or state civil action, file Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) complaints, and/or represent individuals in front of before employment-related boards and agencies, such as the EEOC, the Department of Labor (“DOL”), and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).

What Does an Employment Attorney Do for Employers?

Adhering to state and federal discrimination laws such as the aforementioned, complying with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) standards, and following current environmental regulations are important measures employers must take to provide safe and sustainable workplaces for employees, and ultimately keep their business up and running.

Labor and employment lawyers can assist employers in keeping up with these measures as these attorneys are equipped to offer legal advice, review, and counsel on employment agreements, workplace codes of conduct, and other workplace provisions set forth by employers.  As an employer, consulting or retaining a labor and employment attorney to ensure adherence to important federal and state workplace standards can help you build a business workplace that is compliant, protected, and tenable.

Even more, employers have rights too. Employers’ rights are typically governed by federal and state laws that cover employees. Nevertheless, that means that if employers remain compliant with applicable statutes and regulations relating to workplace culture and environment, they maintain the right to terminate employment relationships, establish criteria and guidelines for job candidates, and establish policies and procedures from employee ethics, leave policies, and pay, to dress codes and office conduct.

Establishing and communicating both employer and employee rights accessibly is incredibly important for protecting businesses. In addition to assisting with properly articulating those rights, labor and employment attorneys can further help protect compliant employers by building a strong defense against former or current employees that may seek to bring action against them.

When Should You Hire an Employment Attorney?

For former or current employees, you should consider speaking to an employment attorney as soon as you think something is wrong or off with respect to treatment by your employer or workplace conditions to explore your rights and options. Don’t hesitate to seek out and/or hire an employment lawyer if you feel your rights have been violated in any way.

As for employers, in the event a former or current employee intends to take action against you or your business, speaking with and retaining a labor and employment attorney is critical. Moreover, keeping in consistent contact with a labor and employment attorney can help to maintain consistent and ongoing compliance, ideally minimizing the risk and potential for any action to be brought at all.

Hiring an employment lawyer can also incur a cost. Different attorneys may offer different payment structures and fee breakdowns. Most labor and employment attorneys follow one, or a mixture, of the following structures:

• Hourly rate: Firm or Attorney(s) paid a per-hour rate for hours worked on the case.

• Contingency fee: A percentage, agreed upon between client and counsel, of any award obtained through the lawsuit goes to the Firm or Attorney(s). Costs may be advanced by the Firm or Attorney(s) and may also be deducted from any recovery which is made in the lawsuit after the deduction of the contingent fee.

• Flat fee: Attorney(s) have a set price for a specific service or batch of services.

For more specific information on costs, fees, and payment structures make sure to ask the firm or attorney directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

“Can I sue my employer? If so, what evidence do I need?”  

The answer to this question varies depending on several factors, including, but not limited to: type of case, federal versus state specific statutes and regulations, and more.

Information and documentation, however, are helpful and sometimes necessary elements when pursuing action through a labor and employment attorney or agency. Keeping accurate records of incidents may be helpful to any action you consider taking. Accurate records encompass information such as dates and times, witnesses, documentation (i.e. signed contracts or agreements), as well as any or all communications across platforms (emails, screenshots, slack messages, etc.) that may demonstrate any violations, inappropriate conduct, breaches that have occurred, or lack thereof.

“How long does a case take?”  

Similarly to the question of case viability, the length of an employment case varies depending on several factors. The lifecycle of an employment case has many phases, starting from your very first legal consultation, case evaluation, and initial filings to discovery, mediation, and litigation processes, all of which can vary in timescale. Nevertheless, there are statutes of limitations and other procedural bars associated with potential claims, so it may be helpful to research or ask an employment attorney about the timeline for getting a case started.

Protect Your Rights – Contact Miller Shah

The attorneys at Miller Shah can offer legal assistance when it comes to labor and employment litigation and compliance.  The legal team at Miller Shah LLP has extensive experience representing labor and employment matters, including discrimination and harassment, employee misclassification, wage and hour violations and more.  If you have any questions regarding this subject or this post, please fill out a form or call us toll-free at (866) 540-5505.