When Do I Need an Employment Lawyer?
by Attorney Lisa Guerin
Sometimes it makes sense to hire an attorney.
Even the most conscientious employer occasionally needs help from a lawyer. Although you can handle many employment matters on your own, some issues are particularly tricky and will require some legal expertise. Employment law can change rapidly. Courts and government agencies issue new opinions interpreting these laws every day, sometimes completely overturning what everyone thought the law meant. When you also factor in that lawsuits brought by former employees can end in huge damages awards against the employer, it's easy to see why you should seek legal advice when you get in over your head.
On the other hand, you don't need to talk to a lawyer every time you evaluate, discipline, or even fire a worker. After all, lawyers don't come cheap -- if you run to a lawyer every time you have to make an employment-related decision, you will quickly go broke.
The trick is to figure out which situations require some expert help and which you can handle on your own. Here are a few tasks for which you should consider bringing in a lawyer.
Reviewing Documents
A lawyer can quickly review and troubleshoot any employment-related agreements you routinely use with your workers, such as employment contracts, severance agreements, or releases. A lawyer can check your contracts to make sure that they contain all the necessary legal terms and will be enforced by a court. If you have included any language that might cause problems later, or if you have gone beyond what the law requires of you, a lawyer can draw these issues to your attention. And a lawyer can give you advice about when to use these contracts -- for example, you may not want to give severance to every departing employee or enter into an employment contract with every new worker.
You can also ask a lawyer to give your employee handbook or personnel policies a thorough legal review. First and foremost, a lawyer can make sure that your policies don't violate laws regarding overtime pay, family leave, final paychecks, or occupational safety and health, to name a few. A lawyer can also check for language that might create unintended obligations towards your employees. And a lawyer might advise you to consider additional policies. (For help creating an employee handbook -- including sample language you can modify to fit your workplace -- see Create Your Own Employee Handbook, by attorneys Lisa Guerin and Amy DelPo (Nolo).
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Copyright 2006 Nolo
