LABOR & EMPLOYMENT

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The attorneys of the Labor & Employment Law Practice Group are experienced practitioners who represent both public and private corporations, public bodies and partnerships in diverse fields such as retail sales, hospitality, banking, marine industry, service providers and construction. Our attorneys defend employers in all matters arising in federal and state courts, before federal, state and local agencies, as well as counsel clients on a variety of issues including:

Our Labor and Employment Attorneys counsel clients on the implementation of employment policies that will protect clients against potential violations of labor and employment laws.  We represent clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security, OSHA, the Florida Commission on Human Relations and other state and local fair employment practice agencies.

In an effort to prevent and avoid employment law violations, we focus on our clients' day-to-day requirements in connection with human resources decisions including hiring, compensation, policy interpretation and terminations. In the current environment, the question is not whether employment claims will be asserted, but when. Management should not simply react to the approaching wave of employment claims. Rather, management should de-leverage the risk posed by these claims by enhancing the company's defensive position before they are asserted. To this end, we partner with our clients to design, disseminate and implement effective management training, hiring practices, compensation protocols, disciplinary policies, and termination procedures in the context of the practical reality of our clients' day-to-day operational requirements and HR capabilities. This process is particularly critical in light of recent legislative amendments overruling previous pro-management U.S.Supreme Court employment decisions, and ongoing legislative efforts to create new or expanded protected classes of employees and activities.

When litigation is required, we represent our clients aggressively and efficiently to achieve the best possible result. The Firm's Employment Law litigators have successfully defended clients in state and federal courts against charges of unlawful discrimination, wrongful discharge and other employee-initiated claims. Our litigators have also brought claims on behalf of our employer clients to protect their rights under employment agreements, and they are highly experienced in severance and separation agreements to resolve a variety of employer disputes.

Ruden McClosky Labor & Employment attorneys are approved panel counsel for several employment practices liability insurance carriers, and work with our clients to maximize the benefits they receive from their insurance policies.

Publications

• EEOC Seeks to Stamp Out Systemic Discrimination: Recent Charges Involve Age Discrimination in Employment Practices
• Parsing Profanity to Find a "Hostile Work Environment"?
• Double-Barrel Overtime Liability
• New Labor Posters for the New Year
• It's a Brave New World at EEOC
• Exercise Caution in Monitoring Employees’ E-mail
• The Economics of Vigilence
• Secure Non-Compete Agreements Now to Protect Business Interests Later
• Banning the Blog: Updating the Employee Handbook for an "Online" World
• Retaliation Claims by Employees: Avoiding an Expensive Trap for Unwary Employers
• Unemployment Benefits: Accepting an Employee's Resignation can be Complicated
• 2009 Brings Drastic Changes To ADA, Increases Burden On Employers