Employment law is a broad and complex area impacting every aspect of the employer and employee relationship. It covers thousands of federal and state statutes, administrative regulations and judicial decisions. LCW attorneys practice in this area of the law every day and bring that expertise to aid nonprofit organizations on all of their employment matters.
We advise nonprofit organizations in developing pre-employment background check processes that comply with the law and best practices to ensure that nonprofits are hiring the right candidate for their organization, while also keeping their organization’s and communities safe. This involves, for example, advising on how to conduct interviews in a lawful manner, when and how criminal background checks can be done, when and how conviction information can be considered (if at all), and drafting applications and waivers and releases for conducting reference checks.
We regularly assist clients by reviewing and revising employee handbooks and other personnel policies and procedures. Our work in this area includes incorporating developments in the law as well as best practices into our analysis, recommendations, and revisions.
California law mandates that all employers, including nonprofit employers with 5 or more employees, provide Preventing Harassment and Discrimination training. We provide more than 900 presentations annually and can provide harassment and discrimination training in whatever manner works best for your organization, including live-virtual trainings, pre-recorded trainings, and in-person trainings tailored to your organization’s unique needs. We also provide other employee related trainings, such as employee performance management trainings for supervisors, inclusivity trainings, and mandated reporter trainings.
Compliance with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is essential for nonprofit organizations to avoid potential exposure to ACA penalties. LCW assists clients with development of ACA safe harbors relating to identification of full-time employees and affordability of coverage, and advises on ACA reporting compliance. We are experts in the ACA’s Employer Shared Responsibility Payment provisions and can help nonprofits challenge proposed penalty assessments by the IRS.
Much of our practice is devoted to advising nonprofit organizations regarding compliance with the innumerable employment related laws and regulations and the complexities of navigating employee relationships. We work closely with employers to help them navigate the day-to-day employment issues they are tasked with managing, such as hiring applicants, properly classifying employees and independent contractors, workplace discipline and performance, managing layoffs and terminations, investigating complaints of workplace misconduct, administering leaves, and responding to requests for disability accommodations.
