Employment

Our Business is Understanding Yours.

OVERVIEW

Our Business is Understanding Yours.

HDRB&B’s Employment Department provides proactive strategies and creative solutions to help employers minimize their risk and stay in compliance with continually changing laws. Businesses, corporations and individuals trust HDRB&B’s employment team to provide effective and efficient representation across a full range of employment law services – from counseling to representation at trial.

Services

For Employers

HDRB&B partners with business owners, in-house counsel, human resources professionals and management to limit exposure to liability by:

  • Providing proactive day-to-day employment counseling
  • Drafting and enforcing employment agreements, including:
    • Confidentiality agreements
    • Restrictive covenants
    • Independent contractor agreements
    • Separation agreements
    • Releases
  • Drafting comprehensive employee handbooks and well-reasoned hiring, firing, and performance management guidelines and decisions
  • Conducting comprehensive workplace audits to ensure compliance with state and federal laws, including:
    • Harassment and discrimination laws
    • Wage and hour laws
    • Employee v. independent contract classifications
    • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
    • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
    • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
    • Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
  • Providing customized employment practices training for management, supervisors and non-supervisory employees on topics including:
    • Preventing Harassment & Discrimination
    • Preventing Workplace Violence & Bullying
    • Combatting Implicit Bias in the Workplace
    • Properly Classifying Employees and Independent Contractors
  • Conducting independent internal investigations of harassment and discrimination complaints, whistleblower allegations, and other reports of workplace misconduct
  • Structuring and implementing reductions in force (RIFs) in accordance with state and federal WARN Act requirements

Representative Matters

  • Provided anti-discrimination and retaliation trainings to employers ranging in size from 20 to over 150.
  • Facilitated and provided documentation to effectuate legally compliant and complex reductions in force resulting from changes in market conditions and asset sales.
  • Successfully assisted clients reducing and/or eliminating fines for unemployment and workers’ compensation issues.
  • Prepared and represented clients in connection with wage and hour audits preventing violation findings and significant penalties and fines.
  • Conducted independent workplace investigations in response to whistleblower complaints, complaints of discrimination and harassment and workplace misconduct, and provided investigation reports and guidance following completion of the investigation

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For Employees

HDRB&B’s employment team has decades of experience providing trusted advice and guidance to executives and other high-level employees. Our objective is to help you obtain the most favorable results should you be exiting your current position and/or starting a new position.

We provide assistance in the following areas:

  • Negotiating and drafting employment contracts and independent contractor agreements
  • Negotiating and drafting confidentiality and restrictive covenant agreements
  • Negotiating and drafting separation agreements
  • Negotiating enhanced severance packages
  • Navigating restrictive covenant agreements

Representative Matters

  • Successfully assisted clients in negotiating lucrative separation agreements.
  • Assisted executives in reviewing and negotiating complex employment agreements, including equity packages.
  • Assisted numerous executives in navigating transitions from one position to another, ensuring they avoid restrictive covenant issues and maximize compensation, benefits and equity.

Employment Alerts

  • 2.21.23 Electronic Distribution and Posting of Workplace Notices – Best Practice and Newly Required in NY State
    Due to the recent amendment to New York Labor Law Section 201, employers must electronically distribute, via email or posting, all notices that previously were required to be physically posted in a conspicuous place on each floor of an employer’s premises. Read more>>
  • 5.6.22 New York and New Jersey Pass New Regulations Impacting Workplace Requirements
    Spring has sprung in the tri-state area, bringing with it warmer weather, fewer Covid-19 restrictions, and a handful of new legal updates. Here are the top things employers need to know. Read more>>
  • 12.17.21 NYC Vaccine Mandate – Here’s What Employers Need to Know
    Beginning on December 27, 2021, businesses must require that all individuals who perform in-person work or interact with members of the public in New York City, provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19. Read more>>
  • 9.13.21 New York Activates HERO Act Requirements
    On September 6, 2021, New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the State’s Commissioner of Health has designated Covid-19 as a “highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk to the public health.” This designation triggers the requirements under the NYS HERO Act, enacted over the summer. Read more>>
  • 7.21.21 Federal Covid-Related COBRA Expansion Imposes New Obligations on Employers
    On May 5, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act”) into law. This law requires all New York employers regardless of size to adopt airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans. Read more>>
  • 4.28.21 Federal Covid-Related COBRA Expansion Imposes New Obligations on Employers
    The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) included – in addition to its stimulus package, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, and an extension of the FFCRA tax credits available to employers – an expansion of COBRA continuation benefits for individuals who are eligible as a result of reduced hours or involuntary termination. Read more>>
  • 3.30.20 The Paycheck Protection Program – Is this Good News for Small Businesses?
    The CARES Act enacted on Friday, March 27, 2020 includes $349 billion in relief for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Read more>>
  • 3.25.20 New Guidance Released Regarding FFCRA/Federal Coronavirus Related Leaves
    The U.S. Department of Labor has released new guidance relating to the recently enacted FFCRA Coronavirus-related emergency leave. Read more>>
  • 3.25.20 Attention New York Employers: Coronavirus Related Sick Leave
    On March 18, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed New York State’s Paid Sick Leave Law into law which provides mandatory sick leave for employees across New York State. Read more>>
  • 3.24.20 New NJ COVID-19 Related Job Protection Legislation
    On Friday, March 20, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a measure aimed at protecting workers who request time off because they have (or may have) COVID-19. This measure applies only to the current coronavirus pandemic. Read more>>
  • 3.21.20 Families First Coronavirus Response Act – What Do Employers Need to Know?
    The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) was signed into law by President Trump on March 18, 2020. The two most significant provisions for employers – expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and a new Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) – are discussed more fully below. Read more>>
  • 3.21.20 Checklist for Employers for Maintaining Employees Through Pandemic Read more>>
  • 3.9.20 6 Steps Employers Should Take to Prepare for Coronavirus
    With experts indicating the inevitable spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) across the United States, many employers want to know how they can best prepare their workplaces. Read more>>
  • 2.4.20 New Mandatory Severance Requirements and Earned Sick Leave Regulations
    New Jersey is now the first state in the country to require mandatory severance pay for some layoffs. Expansive amendments broadening the scope of the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, New Jersey’s mini-WARN Act (NJ WARN Act) are set to take effect on July 19, 2020.  Read more>>
  • 1.10.20 Breaking News Regarding New Jersey Independent Contractor Legislation
    New Jersey’s controversial legislation aimed at combatting worker misclassification will not be voted on during the current legislative session, ending January 14, 2020. Instead, the bill will be reconsidered during the two-year term. The proposed legislation included stricter definitions of employee and independent contractor and critics of the bill, such as freelancers and independent journalists, were concerned about the impact to their livelihood.  Read more>>
  • 1.6.20 6 Things Employers Need to Know in 2020
    Read on to learn about important employment law updates effective in 2020 for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut employers. Read more>>
  • 10.1.19  New Federal Overtime Rule Goes Into Effect January 1, 2020
    The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its much-anticipated update to the existing federal overtime law. The DOL estimates this change will impact 1.3 million employees. Read more>>
  • 9.16.19 The Clock Is Ticking…Upcoming Deadlines For New York State Employers
    With the recent passage of various legislation at the state and city level, New York employers face a series of deadlines for compliance in 2019 and 2020.
    Read more>>
  • 9.9.19 NJ Adopts Comprehensive Wage Theft Law
    New Jersey recently enacted the Wage Theft Act (“WTA”), one of the strongest in the country, aimed at protecting employees and increasing employer responsibility for following labor laws. Read more>>

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