North Carolina
Employment Law

We provide businesses with legal guidance related to employee management and compliance. We assist businesses in drafting and reviewing employment contracts, separation agreements, performance improvement plans, developing workplace policies and handbooks, and providing guidance on a myriad of labor laws. Our role often times also includes advising on best practices for employee relations and mitigating legal risks associated with hiring, terminations and workplace disputes.

Proactively consulting an employment lawyer can be helpful in navigating complex and frequently changing laws, minimize risk and allow you to focus on day-to-day business. Some reasons you may want to consult an employment lawyer are:

• Hiring and Onboarding: When establishing employment contracts, non-compete agreements, or confidentiality agreements to ensure legal compliance and protect business interests.
• Employee Management: When dealing with sensitive employee issues such as discrimination complaints, harassment allegations, FMLA and other related leave laws or disciplinary actions to ensure fair treatment and compliance with employment laws.
• Policy Development/Employee Handbooks: When creating or updating company policies and procedures related to employee conduct, benefits, leaves of absence, or workplace safety to ensure legal compliance and consistency.
• Termination and Layoffs: Before terminating an employee or implementing layoffs to ensure compliance with employment laws, mitigate potential legal risks, and handle severance agreements.
• Wage and Hour Compliance: To navigate complex issues related to overtime pay, minimum wage laws, classification of employees as exempt or non-exempt, and other wage-related matters.
• Workplace Safety and Health: When addressing workplace safety concerns, dealing with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) investigations, or developing protocols for handling health-related emergencies.
• Employment Litigation: When facing lawsuits or legal claims from current or former employees related to wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, or other employment-related issues. While we do not litigate, we can provide pre-litigation support whether it’s a consultation to assess your particular circumstance, or potential remedies before litigation such as mediation.
• Compliance Audits: Periodically to conduct audits of HR practices and policies to ensure ongoing compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws.
• Mergers and Acquisitions: During business transactions to assess employment-related liabilities, review employee contracts, and ensure a smooth transition of human resources.

• Misclassification: employee vs. independent contractor.
• Violation of FMLA or other various leave laws specific to North Carolina.
• Employee reprimands, performance improvement plans, and termination related issues.
• Hiring- employment contracts, non-solicitation, non-compete, compensation plans.
• Claims of harassment, hostile work environment, and other culture related issues.

It depends, but most often no. Barring certain situations, an attorney will typically be retained by one side of the disagreement. We help businesses implement best practices geared toward achieving positive and mutually beneficial working environments for both the business and its employees. When disputes arise, while retained by the employer, we approach disputes with an eye toward mediation and resolving complaints amicably so the parties, together, can move forward positively.