• Assist employers in complying with federal, state and local employment laws.
• Develop strategies for dealing with non-performing employees and other employee challenges.
• Counsel employers on the proper way to handle employee discipline, hiring and firing.
• Create plans to deal with the challenges presented by absent employees.
• Reduce employer legal and business risks before releasing an employee.
• Draft separation agreements that protect all reasonable employer interests.
• Train managers and supervisors on unlawful harassment and other employment issues.
• Conduct investigations into sexual harassment and other employment claims.
• Develop, revise and update personnel policies, procedures and manuals.

• Represent employers in all aspects of traditional labor law including union organizing efforts, collective bargaining, arbitration hearings, labor contract administration, decertification proceedings and unfair labor practice proceedings.
• Represent both public and private sector employers.

• Act as spokesperson at the bargaining table or advise behind the scenes.
• Critique union proposals.
• Draft employer proposals.
• Ensure that the negotiated agreement meets the employer’s needs.

• Represent unionized employers in grievance arbitration hearings.
• Represent employers during the mediation of labor and employment disputes.
• Serve as neutral mediators in non-client employment disputes.

• Assist employers in preparing position statements to increase the likelihood of “No Probable Cause” findings.
• Assess discrimination claims.
• Deal with government investigators.
• Negotiate resolutions that are cost effective for our clients.

• Litigate employment cases before the Equal Rights Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and local forums like the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission and other states' agencies.
• Litigate employment cases in federal and state court.
• Represent employers in grievance arbitration proceedings and in hearings before the National Labor Relations Board and the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.
• Protect employer trade secrets through litigation.

• Assist employers who are considering hiring an individual subject to an agreement restricting post-employment competition, or who are interested in protecting their own customer relationships or confidential information from competition by employees or former employees.
• Advise employers on dealing with the challenges created by Wisconsin law pertaining to non-compete agreements.
• Draft restrictive covenant agreements.
• Representation in connection with disputes concerning the violation and enforceability of restrictive covenant agreements.

• Draft employment agreements.
• Provide counsel concerning the interpretation of employment agreements.
• Negotiate, either openly or behind the scenes, satisfactory employment and separation agreements.

• Assist employers in complying with the differing mandates of federal, state and local wage hour laws.
• Advise employers regarding properly classifying employees as exempt or non-exempt from the overtime pay requirement.
• Defend employers when a wage claim has been filed.
• Assist employers in determining what time is compensible.
• Counsel concerning overtime reduction strategies.

• Counsel employers regarding the labor law issues arising out of corporate transactions such as mergers, sales and acquisitions.
• Assist “due diligence” concerning employment and labor matters.
• Prepare employment agreements to provide senior management with security in the event of such transactions.
• Provide counsel concerning “plant closing” notices and other labor law mandates that frequently are overlooked in such transactions.

Offer interactive training for managers, supervisors and employees on workplace issues and developments in labor and employment laws. Topics are tailored to the employer’s unique needs and might include:

• Avoiding harassment claims;
• Overview of labor and employment laws;
• Hiring and firing;
• Performance reviews and guidance on when to document poor performance;
• What an employer can and cannot do in a union organizing attempt; and/or
• Legal updates.

• Plan and conduct harassment complaint investigations.
• Plan and conduct investigations concerning threats of violence.
• Counsel concerning conducting investigations of other employee misconduct.
• Assist executives in the context of such investigations.

• Represent employers facing uninsured claims under the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Act, such as claims for unreasonable refusal to rehire, safety violations, etc.

• Representation and negotiations concerning departing owners.
• Counsel regarding lawful employee exits.