Labor & Employment

We provide essential and comprehensive labor and employment legal services to our clients with consistent and commonsense advice and guidance in employment, personnel administration, labor relations and labor negotiations.  Our areas of expertise include, as examples, drafting of personnel rules and policies; enforcement of workplace management and employee rights; assistance in drafting and implementing hiring processes; employee evaluation, promotion, discipline, and discharge processes; employee training; personnel file maintenance and disclosure; personnel investigations; due process hearings and appeals; disability and retirement issues; labor organizing and recognition processes; labor relations; employee and labor grievances; and negotiation of collective bargaining agreements. 

In addition to our extensive advisory work, we handle complex and often sensitive labor and employment litigation, including defending and prosecuting administrative charges before state and federal agencies.  We assertively represent our clients as advocates when litigation arises, and have represented clients at all levels of the state and federal judicial systems and administrative and regulatory agencies.

Expertise

Labor Relations:

• Collective bargaining: negotiating and drafting labor agreements with employee organizations, including negotiating impasses and impasse arbitration and unilateral implementation
• Enforcement and defense of labor agreements
• Grievance administration
• General employee relations advice, including under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, EERA, HEERA, Dills Act, Trial Court Act, Court Interpreter Act, JCEERA, Orange County Transit District Act, BART Act, and Sac RTD Act
  

Employment Law:

• Employment advertisements, recruitments, applications, background checks, offer letters, employment contracts, including severance, last-chance, and settlement agreements
• Employee handbooks and employment policies
• Fair Labor Standards Act and California Labor Code
• Employee benefits, including health, Affordable Care Act, California Public Employees' Retirement System and supplemental retirement plans
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
• Family and medical leaves, including Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, California Family Rights Act and the Pregnancy Disability Leave Law
• Workplace safety and the California Occupational Safety and Health Act, including handling citations and appeals
• Workplace investigations
• Training service, including supervisor harassment training pursuant to AB 1825 (Gov. Code § 12950.1) and sexual harassment training
• Employee discipline and discharge
• Employee layoffs/reductions in force
• Interactive accommodation process
• Workplace violence prevention, investigations, and restraining orders
• Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under the ADA, Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title II and Title VII), Fair Employment and Housing Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Older Workers Benefit Protection Act and 42 U.S.C. section 1983
• Employment litigation, including discrimination; harassment; retaliation; wrongful termination; whistleblower; federal civil rights act; qui tam actions; False Claims Act; Government Code section 1090; and wage/hour claims
• Representation of clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Fair Employment & Housing, Employment Development Department, California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, California Labor Commissioner/Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Cal/OSHA appeals board, and Internal Revenue Service
• Police and fire personnel matters, including the Public Safety Officers’ Bill of Rights Act, the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act, “Skelly” pre-disciplinary conferences, disciplinary due process appeal hearings, and civil writs
• California Public Records Act requests as they relate to labor and personnel matters

Expertise in Action

Our attorneys have provided labor and employment legal advice to a number of public agency clients since its inception, including the cities of Adelanto, Arvin, Baldwin Park, Banning, Bell, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Chino Hills, Covina, Culver City, Cypress, Fillmore, Fresno, Glendora, Grand Terrace, Hemet, Hesperia, Industry, Irwindale, King City, La Canada Flintridge, Lawndale, Lynwood, Lompoc, Menifee, Morro Bay, Murrieta, Newport Beach, Palm Springs, Pasadena, Perris, Rialto, Rancho Palos Verdes, Richmond, San Dimas, San Gabriel, Santa Fe Springs, Signal Hill, South El Monte, South Gate, Stanton, Suisun City, Town of Yucca Valley, and Yuba City as well as special districts and joint powers and housing authorities, including the Casitas Municipal Water District, Foothill Municipal Water District, Contra Costa Water District, Bay Area Rapid Transit District (“BART”), Truckee Sanitation District, Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency, Central Marin Sanitation Agency, Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District, Housing Authority of the County of Madera, Housing Authority of County of San Bernardino, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, Palmdale Water District, Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District, the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Parks District, the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority and West Basin Municipal Water District, and a number of trial courts, including the Alameda County Superior Court, Contra Costa County Superior Court, Shasta County Superior Court, Fresno County Superior Court, Orange County Superior Court, San Diego County Superior Court, and the Judicial Council of California. 

We believe in a team approach both in terms of attorneys staffing a given matter or representing a particular client, as well as working with the client’s internal management team.  We begin by focusing the delivery of services with a designated attorney “team” so that in the event of the unavailability of a primary attorney, there will be someone else immediately available who is familiar with the client and/or matter who can respond promptly to the client.  We also appropriately staff matters based upon efficient and economical use of senior attorneys, junior attorneys, paralegals, litigation support specialists, and document clerks.

We realize the sensitivity inherent in employment issues and make it our primary purpose to present options and develop effective strategies to obtain successful results, often by preventing or resolving employment disputes or liability issues before they become publicly or economically detrimental to our clients.  To accomplish this, our lawyers often work as part of a client’s management “team,” providing services ranging from simple legal guidance to direct representation in personnel administration, complex labor negotiations, and administratively and/or civilly contested matters.  In this way, we develop a breadth and depth of understanding of the client and its unique cultural and labor relations needs.