Because of the enormous increase in legal claims and disputes over the past few years, Wimberly & Lawson suggests that employers should consider the following projects in early 2019 as they are quite important and timely.  Wimberly & Lawson would be pleased to provide fixed fee estimates for each project or otherwise advise employers in these important pro-active steps to avoid the adverse publicity and headaches of expensive litigation.  If your company has not reviewed and updated these policies since the substantial changes in 2018 from the U.S. Supreme Court, it is extremely likely that your policies do not reflect current law and "best practices" as to compliance.

• Should my company institute a policy requiring all legal claims to be brought in arbitration rather than in court and waiving any right of an employee to bring a class or collective action against the company?

• Alternatively, should my company institute a policy requiring employees to promise not to bring class or collective actions and/or to waive jury trials and provide for a shorter statute of limitations?

• Should my company review and update its equal employment and harassment policies?

• Should my company conduct documented harassment training of both management and rank-and-file employees?

• Should my company have an outside legal I-9 audit in light of the increased enforcement efforts by both ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and IER (Immigrant Employment Rights)?

• In light of current attacks on the independent contractor/joint employment relationship, should my company review our independent contractor agreements with third parties that use their own employees to provide services to the company?

• Should my company have its leave policy reviewed to ensure compliance with FMLA, ADA, pregnancy rules, and possibly paid leave laws, and also the proper balance of management and employee rights?

• Should I update my employee handbook to ensure good policies and legal compliance with enforcement practices by ICE, IER, NLRB, EEOC and other enforcement agencies?

• Should my company update its job application and hiring process in light of current hiring conditions and to ensure legal compliance with laws enforced by ICE, IER, EEOC and other enforcement agencies?

• Should my company review its wage-hour compliance, particularly the hours worked and exemptions from overtime, and determine the most cost-effective and legally compliant method?

• Should my company conduct an outside HR audit to determine legal compliance and "best practices" that might assist our company in becoming more legally compliant as well as efficient and supportive of our employees?

For further information or to request the fixed fee for each item, please fill out the following and email  jww@wimlaw.com.

            Name, Title:                                                                                                               

            Company:                                                                                                                   

            Company Address:                                                                                                                                                                             

            Direct Telephone Number:                                                                                        

            Email Address:                                                                                                          

Questions?  Need more information?  Email James W. Wimberly, Jr. (jww@wimlaw.com), J. Larry Stine (jls@wimlaw.com), or Les Schneider (las@wimlaw.com) or call them at (404) 365-0900.