Owning or managing a business in California is challenging. No state has stricter laws and regulations. Every year brings new changes, and new requirements. If an employer makes a mistake, the remedies provided to employees can be very harsh, and very costly.
Straggas Law Group works with its employer clients on a daily basis to provide advice and counseling regarding human resources and personnel management issues, including, pre-hiring practices, hiring, compensation and benefits, discipline, and termination.
Straggas Law Group also works with employer clients who have been targeted with wage and hour class action lawsuits, discrimination and harassment complaints, employee/ independent contractor “mis-designation” claims, and other employment lawsuits and proceedings, whether brought by employees, or government agencies.
We also assist in investigations of pre-litigation claims of discrimination and harassment to ensure preservation of evidence and to assist the employer in creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment for all employees.
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Over the past several years, there has been an explosion of litigation involving the alleged failure of employers to provide proper compensation, and meal and rest breaks, to employees. Some of the claims are brought by individual employees, while others are styled as class actions brought on behalf of the entire workforce of the employer. When these claims are filed, the employer faces potential damages for wages and overtime not paid, and for “premium hours” not paid for missed meal and rest breaks.
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Plaintiffs' attorneys also seek to add penalties for “paystub” violations on the basis that the paystubs were inaccurate, which provides yet another basis for penalties and recovery of attorneys’ fees against the employer. Straggas Law Group can assist employers to implement proper payroll and record-keeping policies to help avoid these lawsuits. We also have the experience and expertise to aggressively defend against these claims when they are filed in court or arbitration against the employer.