Employment law is a complicated and sometimes confusing mix of federal and state rules and regulations that govern the professional relationship between employers and employees. Businesses in Connecticut must know the relevant laws or open themselves to investigations, lawsuits, substantial court damages, reputational harm, and more.
Fortunately, you and your organization do not have to navigate the complexities of employment law on your own. The right law firm can provide training programs for management, staff, and employees to help ensure compliance and mitigate risks. Find out why so many Connecticut employers trust the experience of Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C.
The Importance of Knowing the Law
The last thing that any employer wants is a credible allegation that they have broken the law, especially when it comes from a current or former employee. Both Connecticut and the federal government take employment law matters seriously, and even the hint of wrongdoing can cause substantial problems for a business of any size and in any industry.
Complying with the law should therefore be a top priority. Failure to do so could open your business to the following legal and financial problems, among others:
- Investigations: Any number of state and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor or Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, may launch a formal investigation or inquiry into your company’s employment law practices. On top of the stress and frustration of dealing with the government, you could be forced to spend significant time and effort responding to and cooperating with the investigation.
- Fines: The investigation may determine that your company has violated the various rules and regulations that make up the complicated tapestry of federal and state employment law. If so, the government may levy fines. These fines could be fairly large depending on how serious the violations are and how many times they have occurred.
- Litigation: A lawsuit filed against your business will escalate the employment law matter into more serious territory. If a judge and jury believe that the allegations made against your business are credible, the litigation may result in a substantial award of damages to the plaintiff.
- Continued legal costs: Your legal bills may not end with a lawsuit. It is possible for a trial court to make mistakes, which means the judgment itself may be legally questionable. This could allow you to appeal, but of course that means more legal expenses.
- Depleted resources, decreased morale, and damaged reputation: All of these, and others, are secondary effects to the above legal problems. Publicity of employment law issues could ultimately harm your company’s market strength and long-term profitability.
Training Programs That May Benefit Your Stratford Business
While all of this may sound discouraging, the good news is that your business can mitigate risks by taking concrete steps to ensure legal compliance. A major component of this is a robust system of training programs designed to educate your workforce, identify legal threats, and correct them. Our law firm offers a multitude of programs that are tailored to the needs of Stratford employers of all sizes and in all industries.
Examples of our training programs include:
- Management training: The goal is to teach managers how to effectively communicate with employees, when and how to impose disciplinary measures, and how to conduct employee evaluations and performance reviews with an eye towards avoiding legal risks.
- Sexual harassment and discrimination prevention training: Connecticut law requires employers to provide sexual harassment prevention training, and our program complies with state regulations. We also train staff in how to avoid the related problem of workplace discrimination in all its forms to ensure adherence to state and federal laws.
- Employee leave training: Both Connecticut and the federal government have various leave programs under numerous laws such as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (and its Connecticut counterpart) and workers’ compensation laws. Your business should also know about disability leave, sick leave, the difference between paid and unpaid leave, and more.
- Wage and hour laws training: State and federal laws concerning the minimum wage, overtime pay, improper employee paycheck deductions, record-keeping requirements, and more are in focus here. Violating these laws could result in substantial civil penalties.
- Workplace safety training: Even if your business is not in a high-risk industry, workplace safety is the responsibility of every Stratford employer. We can help your business maintain compliance with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations and those of CONN-OSHA, the Connecticut counterpart.
- Health and retirement benefits training: Employment law is also concerned with such matters as health insurance, pensions and other retirement programs, and related benefits. Our training can ensure that you understand the law when extending and managing these employee benefits.
- Employee privacy training: Stratford employers should be aware that Connecticut has statutes that protect various forms of employee privacy, including their personnel records. We can train your organization in what it needs to know about employee privacy rights.
- Other training programs: There are other employment law topics that your organization should understand such as the relationship of social media and the workplace, independent contractor misclassification, confidentiality agreements, workplace accommodations, and much more. Let us provide the training your business needs.
Drafting Workplace Policies to Protect Your Stratford Business
One of the best ways that employers can reduce the likelihood of investigations and lawsuits is to adopt a robust policies and procedures manual. The implementation and enforcement of objective, detailed, and legally compliant policies and procedures can help limit human error and bad judgment, standardize employment decisions, and provide an ample paper trail that can assist your company in the event of future legal problems.
More specifically, the objectives of a policy and procedure handbook include:
- Avoiding or reducing the chances of lawsuits over harassment, discrimination, and other issues
- Establishing fair procedures for addressing internal matters, such as employee performance
- Defining ethical issues like conflicts of interest and how your business will address them
- Resolving workplace conflicts between employees and between employees and management
- Setting clear rules for compensation, benefits, bonuses, leave, and more
- Protecting the business’s trade secrets, intellectual property rights, and other confidential information
- Enhancing workplace safety and security
- Improving the company’s overall morale and productivity
Our team is ready to develop policies and procedures for your organization and train your leadership and employees to know and understand these rules. If you already have a policies and procedures manual, we can review it to ensure it is properly updated in accordance with state and federal employment law.
Contact Our Training Programs Attorney for Employers
Our employment law group is committed to helping employers know their rights and responsibilities while avoiding unnecessary liability and keeping legal problems to a minimum. Find out how our training programs can match the unique dynamics of your company and keep you compliant with the law. Call or contact Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C. online to learn more.
Mitchell, Sheahan & Slippen, P.C., based in Stratford, CT, also serves clients in Fairfield County, New Haven County, Greenwich, Danbury, White Plains, and New York.