Preventive Counseling for Employers
Overview
Dickinson Bradshaw's labor and employment practice includes preventive counseling for scores of businesses. Our clients include employers which are large, small and in-between; for-profit and not-for-profit; Iowa-based as well as regional and national. Our clients are in diverse industries such as health care, communications, information technology, construction, financial services, manufacturing, retail and agriculture. We work with organizations to reduce their liability risks and increase legal compliance through a variety of activities, including but not limited to:
- Preparing or reviewing employment applications, performance review standards, employee handbooks, releases, agreements, policy and procedure manuals, and other documents;
- Counseling employers on enforcing and implementing policies;
- Advising entities on HIPAA compliance matters, including Business Associate agreements;
- Assisting with or conducting investigations of internal discrimination and harassment claims on a variety of protected bases like gender, race, and age;
- Advising, counseling, and providing training on matters regarding hiring, employee performance, discipline, termination, and reductions-in-force;
- Advising, counseling, and providing training for union avoidance;
- Assisting with compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (e.g. pre-hiring matters, medical examinations, and reasonable accommodation evaluations);
- Advising, counseling, and training in Family and Medical Leave Act compliance, including policy development and situation management;
- Advising, counseling, and training in compliance with wage and hour laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Iowa Wage Payment Collection Act;
- Drafting and reviewing employment agreements, including non-compete agreements and other restrictive covenants, both for general use and for specific employees;
- Drafting or reviewing drug and alcohol policies and training on drug and alcohol testing issues including policy development and implementation, enforcement practices, 'disability discrimination' issues associated with past or present drug or alcohol addiction, and situation management under both state and federal laws;
- Developing programs for and conducting the training of employees on workplace employment issues such as anti-harassment or hostile work environment and other nondiscrimination or affirmative action issues;
- Advising clients regarding the requirements of Affirmative Action Plans under both federal and state laws, and assisting in the preparation or review and revision of such plans;
- Providing practical cost-benefit analysis and candid risk assessments for specific scenarios or business plans; and
- Advising and counseling clients and conducting due diligence on employment issues arising in mergers and acquisitions.
