Employment Defense

Legal Guidance with Employment Compliance Issues and Litigation to Protect Business Owners’ Rights

Due to changing employment laws, stricter regulations and increased compliance requirements with government authorities, business owners face significant challenges. Protecting your company is vital to succeed in the business world. Consulting with an experienced employment defense attorney can make the shifting legal landscape appear less daunting.

The Van De Water Law Firm, P.C., represents small and mid-sized businesses in labor law and employment law issues, which includes representation during investigations and regulatory hearings before the EEOC, New York State Commission on Human Rights and New York City Commission on Human Rights.

When dealing with employment-related matters, clients rely on our experience and legal guidance, which spans more than 20 years of legal practice. We work diligently to reduce a company’s exposure, using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques, such as arbitration and mediation to resolve disputed issues whenever possible. Through effective litigation, we have also accomplished successful outcomes for our clients.

Preventative Preparation Through Training, Handbooks and Company Policies

Working with business management, we assist companies with incorporating handbooks, policies and protocols that prevent discrimination issues from occurring, including sexual harassment. We help clients comply with new federal, state and city laws so they can stay up-to-date with compliance requirements.

The New York State legislature and New York City Council recently passed strict sexual harassment training laws. State laws went into effect on October 9, 2018, and New York City laws will go into effect on April 1, 2019.

New York leads the nation as far as enacting the most stringent anti-sexual harassment laws to date.

Under the new laws, New York employers must incorporate sexual harassment policy and training programs that do the following:

Under NY State law, all employers, regardless of size must train all employees, including part time employees with no limitation based on minimum number of hours worked. Training must occur annually for all employees and within 30 days of their start date, even if the employee is out of state.

Click here for more information about the new updates to the New York Sexual Harassment laws.

Affordable Representation and Legal Guidance

At the Van De Water Law Firm, P.C., we understand how stressful litigation can be for business owners. We offer affordable legal services to help employers put preventative measures in place and as much as possible avoid the expense of costly litigation.