LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
KZR provides strategic counsel to assist your company in managing all phases of its labor and employment relations. We help your own labor and human resources personnel function as strategic business partners within your organization. Like larger firms, KZR handles the most complex labor and employment law problems and litigation but is small enough to guarantee you cost-effective and personalized service.
SPECIALIZED AREAS OF PRACTICE
EMPLOYMENT LAW
LABOR RELATIONS
Personnel Policies and Procedures/Fair Employment Practices
We are at our best when working hand-in-hand with our clients to find practical solutions. We develop employment manuals and company policies, including employee evaluation and disciplinary procedures and hiring practices; review compliance with all discrimination laws; develop sexual harassment policies and administer sexual harassment training for employees and management; represent companies in administrative proceedings and court cases at the state and federal levels throughout the country. We keep our clients abreast of the constantly changing law in this area and work closely with our clients to focus on cost effective and practical means to avoid litigation.
Wage and Hour Advice and Litigation
Wage and hour class actions are increasingly popular as they represent an unparalleled payoff. We work closely with our clients to ensure compliance with these federal and state laws and regulations. We also represent clients in connection with audits and investigations by federal and state departments of labor and in individual and class action litigation.
Pension and Welfare Plan Establishment and Advice
We provide advice concerning compliance with the various statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to pension and welfare benefit plans, including ERISA, HIPAA and the IRC; and drafting of plans and government filings. We serve as counsel to multi-employer and single-employer pension and welfare plans. We represent companies and plans in ERISA litigation, withdrawal liability claims, and Department of Labor and IRS investigations.
Litigation
We recognize that litigation is a recurring reality in labor/employment law. When litigation occurs, we owe you an honest and objective assessment of the risks and benefits of settling or litigating. The choice to settle or litigate is yours. If litigation proceeds, we are committed to defend you vigorously and aggressively, and to minimize your costs, your exposure, and the disruption to your operations.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Employment disputes sometimes are better resolved through alternative procedures such as arbitration and mediation. We work with our clients to evaluate and implement ADR programs and to evaluate the merits of using the available processes as an alternative to litigation. We also represent clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings to achieve the best result possible and curtail otherwise lengthy and expensive litigation.
Trade Secrets
We help you ensure that when an employee leaves your company, your proprietary information, clients and employees cannot be misappropriated. When you hire a new employee we help you ensure that the employee is complying with his or her obligations to former employers and avoid claims by those employers against you.
Training & Development
We develop customized programs to educate and train your managers and staff in areas such as equal employment compliance, workplace harassment, performance appraisals, effective internal investigations, and more. We do not deliver a “cookie cutter” program. Instead, we listen to our client’s objectives and deliver the program to meet those objectives. We provide all documentation and forms necessary for the effective and smooth implementation of the program.
Workplace Safety/Occupational Safety and Health Act
We provide advice on compliance, inspections, and resolving and litigating citations. We also represent clients in proceedings before OSHRC.
Employee-Participation Planning
We help you develop employee-participation committees and provide advice concerning self-directed work teams for unionized and non-unionized work forces.
LABOR RELATIONS
Negotiating Labor Agreements
We negotiate labor agreements or advise and quarterback collective bargaining by in-house staff. Against the contingency that negotiations may not produce a contract, we help you develop strike contingency plans, including plans for continued operations. We have assisted employers in prolonged strikes in which replacements were hired. With barely eight percent of the private sector in unions, our hands-on experience is rare.
Contract Administration
We provide advice on labor contract interpretation, participate in grievance procedures and represent or advise employers in contract arbitration matters.
Proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board
Three of the Firm’s partners joined the Firm from the NLRB. The Firm has appeared in hundreds of unfair labor practice proceedings in virtually every NLRB region and has litigated NLRB cases in every federal circuit court.
Union Organizing
We develop programs designed to limit a company's vulnerability to union organizing activities and to respond if organizing occurs.
Union Election Campaigns
We develop and manage union election campaigns and assist in preparing campaign material and presentations to employees; we represent clients at National Labor Relations Board election proceedings.
Interest Arbitration
Representation in arbitration proceedings to determine the terms of new contracts where the parties have been unable to negotiate a settlement.
Plant Relocation and Closure
We provide labor relations advice on all aspects of plant closings, relocations, and outsourcing with the objective of facilitating a transition not disrupted by union-related issues.
Maritime Labor and Employment Law
Our firm represents many U.S. flag shipping companies. We have negotiated labor agreements with all of the unions representing U.S. sea-going personnel. We serve as counsel to maritime multi-employer pension and welfare plans. Through the years we have served as counsel to the maritime industry when ships were sold or scrapped, and we have served as counsel in many of the National Labor Relations Board and arbitration cases where the rules governing sale and transfer obligations, severance pay, and union successorship claims were developed.
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