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Practice/Industry Group Overview
Since the sweeping labor and employment acts of the mid-1960s, employers have faced an ever increasing number of laws and regulatory agencies governing their businesses and employee relations. To the Equal Pay Act (1963), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967) have been added numerous other federal and state laws: the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act, among others. The Labor and Employment Practice Group attorneys of Ward and Smith, P.A. understand the burden these laws place on employers. We work with clients to develop, implement, and defend policies and practices related to all aspects of the employment relationship to lessen the impact of these burdens to the greatest extent possible.
Our attorneys are experts in labor and employment laws. We strive to know and understand the frequent changes in the law—before clients call for help. We take a proactive, twofold approach to help clients avoid personnel and employment law disputes resulting from unfair employment practices. Several attorneys focus on business and human relations practices such as preparing personnel manuals, employment contracts, compensation agreements, documents associated with workforce reductions, and settlement agreements and releases associated with other forms of termination. Other attorneys focus on employment litigation.
Because we litigate our own cases, our attorneys better serve our clients. Our litigation experience encompasses all types of civil rights discrimination, affirmative action compliance and claims, state and federal wage and hour issues, wrongful termination charges and unemployment claims, occupational safety and health matters, labor disputes, and workers' compensation claims.
On behalf of our clients, we appear before state and federal courts and regulatory and administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, and federal and state departments of labor. We also assist our clients in complying with the rules of the various regulatory agencies, including the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Our attorneys draw on the expertise of attorneys in all other groups of the firm and serve clients statewide, nationwide, and worldwide.
In addition, our attorneys are increasingly involved in alternative dispute resolution and serve as arbitrators and mediators. We also handle immigration issues, which has become a subspecialty of the group. Our attorneys help employers by obtaining work visas and permanent residence cards for foreign nationals who will be working for our clients.
From developing and implementing policies to defending them in legal actions, our attorneys place our clients on solid legal ground. Our attorneys—including one who is listed in The Best Lawyers in America -one who is recognized in "Legal Elite," a listing by Business North Carolina of the 200 best attorneys in the state, and one who is recognized in "Super Lawyers," a list of top North Carolina attorneys by North Carolina Super Lawyers—handle all aspects of labor and employment law. Each also is an expert in a subspecialty of employment law, and several attorneys have more than 30 years of experience.
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