Are you searching for employer defense attorneys for PAGA and California Labor Commission conferences and hearings?  Are you a San Diego or California employer who has been contacted by the California Labor Commission regarding an “informal” hearing or conference?  Have you experienced odd behaviors and communications from employees, or heard rumblings of a wage and hour, unpaid overtime or potential PAGA dispute?

It is important for every California employer to understand, there are no “informal” hearings, and the purpose of the conference is for you to write a check to a former employee and the State of California.  The Watkins Firm employer defense attorneys for PAGA and California Labor Commission Hearings aggressively defend San Diego and California employers in hearings and conferences, as well as any legal venue in our state.  We help to refute the allegations of the employee or agency in question to ensure the best possible outcome in your case.

California coined the term “wage theft” as a way to insinuate that employers were stealing wages from their employees.  If you are currently under investigation by the Labor Board you need aggressive attorneys with experience representing San Diego employers in Labor Commission conferences and hearings.  The first thing the Deputy Labor Commissioner will attempt to do is grill you (the employer) on the technical aspects of California employment law.  Let’s face it, employers are not experts on the law – that is our job.  We help to prepare you for the hearing or conference and document specific evidence to refute the allegations of the agency or employee.  We are experts in the law, and we respond on your behalf while protecting your interests and communicating to the hearing officer we will not be bullied.

You need the experienced, skilled Watkins Firm employer defense attorneys for PAGA and California Labor Commission conferences and hearings. The Labor Commission assumes you will dismiss the informal process, but your failure to attend the informal hearing opens the door to an administrative hearing known as a “Berman Hearing.”  The Labor Commission will hear testimony and collect evidence and this is where your attorneys from the Watkins Firm really go to work.  We provide extensive evidence and testimony on your behalf and ultimately request the Commissioner to issue a $0 decision in your favor.

As if the Labor Commission isn’t enough of a worry for a California employer, the State of California enacted the Private Attorneys General Act encouraging employees to step into the shoes of the Attorney General and file a lawsuit in return for a significant “cut of the action.”  You need the experienced California lawyer for employers at the Watkins Firm.  The Watkins Firm has successfully represented employers here in California for more than 40 years.  We have successfully defended our employer clients in every possible legal venue, including negotiations, mediation, arbitration, hearings and conferences, as well as at trials receiving national prominence and attention.  Ask about our track record of success in every one of these venues, especially when nobody thought we could win a case on behalf of the employer we represented.

Pro-Tip: “Let’s talk about class actions.  That’s how a plaintiff’s attorney takes a mistake on the way somebody drafted someone’s paycheck in the tune of, let’s say $15 a week. That puts you in a class action that costs you three to four hundred thousand dollars, because of an accounting error, and now you find yourself in a class action. Now, had you had certain types of agreements in place, even some kinds of arbitration agreements, that’s where we’re at now on these laws. You could have cut this off. Also, had you had a lawyer for employers at the Watkins firm you could talk to about your procedures, or maybe an outside accounting service to review it or a CPA or our HR person, someone you or your staff can call, then you won’t have this problem. And if you do, then we could help you shut it down right away.

Fast action in any of these matters is the key. Pick up the phone and call us the second that you think something’s going on. You see, Judges don’t really like these cases, and there’s a lot of technical reasons to throw them out because they’re turning into the purview of that sort of a shady PI lawyer, the person that hangs out in the hospital room. These kind of employment lawyers are starting to be like that. And so if they don’t follow all the rules and you get to court in the first couple of months and you file a motion saying you didn’t give the proper notice, you didn’t state the proper cause of action, the judge will throw it out.

What if we help you to understand how to remediate the problem? If you know ahead of time and contact a good experienced lawyer at Watkins Firm.  Other law firms may be  just ready to milk you, because that’s what they do, they won’t propose a solution. They’ll just propose fight, fight.

But sometimes we have our clients come in, and we say, ‘no, no, no, don’t pay us all this money. Pay the extra $3,000 in wages. Send out amended pay stubs before you even have to answer the complaint.’ And guess what? All of the causes of action that have attorney’s fees in them are gone. Nobody wants to see you anymore because of that. So yeah, quick action gives your lawyer the right to do things that just destroy a case in the beginning.

Our goal with our employees is to help them out. We’re here to help them through this and be there for them when they really need us. When you do defense work, you want to get rid of cases as soon as possible. Nobody in business makes money just staying in litigation.

You need to know when you’ve got to something to worry about it and when you don’t.  When and how to take action to defeat the Commission or PAGA plaintiff’s attorneys.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Are you searching for employer defense attorneys for PAGA and California Labor Commission conferences and hearings?  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 39 – What Keeps Employers Up at Night as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.