Are you searching for experienced attorneys with proven strategies for protecting San Diego employers in wage and hour disputes? The Watkins Firm brings more than four decades of experience to your side of the equation as a California employer. One example of this type of dispute involves allegations of “Wage Theft,” a term coined by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office to describe any wage related dispute between an employer and employee. The mere term – wage theft – connotes guilt on the part of the employer.
What should you do if you have a developing issue involving an employee or group of employees? Have you noticed that they are starting to use very specific language, or attempting to document trivial things? This is a huge red flag, and you should contact the experienced San Diego employer defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm immediately for a free consultation at 858-535-1511.
Protecting San Diego employers in wage and hour disputes begins with a thorough understanding of California’s complex laws and compliance issues related to all aspects of providing employment in our state. There isn’t a harder sate in the union in which to be an employer, and the Watkins Firm strongly believes a good defense begins with a strong offense. We provide our employer clients with access to HR personnel within the firm for a fraction of what it would cost to speak with an attorney. Our clients get prompt answers and attention when they have any question or challenge. We help with everything from the consistent, legal, and structured application of policies and procedures to assisting with regular updates to the employee handbook. If you do things right up front, it is much more difficult for plaintiff’s attorneys to find a way to bring wage and hour litigation or a PAGA action.
The attorneys at the Watkins Firm investigate any complaint or legal action, as well as the source of the request when protecting San Diego employers in wage and hour disputes. We gather all available information, create a thorough, well-documented chronology of events as well as a mastery of the potential damages in each case. There are often easy steps our clients can take to mitigate the damages and reduce their exposure or remediate the issue altogether!
Pro-Tip: “the most important piece of advice you would give an employer is the second that you become aware of any potential employee related dispute. Pick up the phone and call you because you could tell them that mole isn’t cancer. Imagine what it’s like to have a guy like you can pick up the phone and call, and you describe what’s going on with a certain troubled employee. And we can tell you, like a mole, ‘oh, that fact scenario doesn’t really fit something that you need to worry about,’ or we can say, ‘oh, this one looks bad because of the things they’re complaining about or just the general facts. I would handle it this way.’
Pro-Tip: “the most important piece of advice you would give an employer is the second that you become aware of any potential employee related dispute. Pick up the phone and call you because you could tell them that mole isn’t cancer. Imagine what it’s like to have a guy like you can pick up the phone and call, and you describe what’s going on with a certain troubled employee. And we can tell you, like a mole, ‘oh, that fact scenario doesn’t really fit something that you need to worry about,’ or we can say, ‘oh, this one looks bad because of the things they’re complaining about or just the general facts. I would handle it this way.’ And so you can turn a $20,000 or $30,000 lawsuit situation into empowerment where you can remediate it completely before it really gets started, stand your ground, or maybe you make some small concessions because you got some good advice from your Watkins Firm lawyer. You need to know what you’ve got to worry about and what you don’t.
When an employee is upset or thinks about suing, they go to a lawyer, right? And then you’ll see a change in the way they’re talking to you. All of the sudden they start posturing and you’ll start receiving communications that sound like you’re getting set up. And you might be, and people in your staff will say, ‘this person’s acting different.’ Well, if you called our office, I would run a check to see if anything was filed already, because what a plaintiff’s lawyer loves to do is file a lawsuit and not let you know until they’ve gathered more and more evidence.
We can tell you if there is a case or not, if they’ve filed a lawsuit or not. But if you know that they filed and they’re hoping you won’t be gathering evidence and they’re trying to set you up, you can be gathering evidence yourself before they even serve you. We will help you with all of that. Best of all, you could be fixing things, mitigating things before their case gets going and beat them to the punch, so to speak. When they realize they don’t have a case, your problems become much much smaller and more manageable, if they don’t vanish altogether.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner
Our clients value immediate access whenever an issue arises, cost-effective support for HR documentation and day-to-day operations, the organization and documentation we prepare and the effective outcomes we are able to achieve while protecting San Diego employers in wage and hour disputes.
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.
