Employment Lawyers & How They Can Help
How an Employment Lawyer Can Help You With Employee Issues
As a business owner, you wear many hats, and it can be challenging to know and understand all of your legal obligations to your employees. Therefore, an employment lawyer is an essential member of your team who will perform the following services to help you navigate various issues, reduce your liability, and comply with the law.
Draft Employment Contracts
When staffing your business, you want to ensure that you select the best candidates for every job and clearly define what you expect from them and what they can expect. An employment lawyer can draft and review all of your employment contracts to ensure they include:
- A detailed job description
- Compensation methods and details
- Bonus criteria
- Available benefits
- Performance expectations
- Termination policy
Draft Employee Handbooks
Every new hire will receive an employee handbook that outlines your company’s policies, procedures, working and behavioral expectations, closures, and other vital information. An employment lawyer can ensure that nothing in your company handbook can be misconstrued as offensive, misleading, in violation of labor compliance standards, and covers a full range of topics.
Draft Non-Compete and Non-Disclosure Agreements
Your lawyer can draft non-disclosure agreements your employees can sign when they come on board that prevent them from divulging confidential information to the public or your competition. When you want to restrict former employees from working for your competitors under any circumstances, your lawyer can draft non-compete agreements that are reasonable and enforceable. A lawyer knows the appropriate language to help ensure that these agreements satisfy local courts and dissuade former employees from violating them.
Offer Advice Regarding Terminations
Terminating employees is never easy and can leave your business open to many perils if you neglect to take specific steps beforehand. An employment lawyer will advise you about how to prepare to dismiss an employee in a way that protects your company. The necessary steps may include:
- Referring to your employee handbook to determine the employee’s policy or performance violations.
- Documenting conversations with the employee about violations.
- Maintaining consistency when dealing with all employees.
- Referring to the terms of an employment contract.
- Ensuring you have a valid reason for dismissing someone in a protected class.
If former employees decide to sue your company despite reasonable grounds for their termination, your attorney can defend your decision at a hearing or in court.
You can call May Law LLP and schedule a consultation with an employment lawyer with a background in your industry who can advise you about all employee matters.