Why do San Diego employers need a proven business attorney?  If your company employs workers in the State of California, you need an experienced employer defense law firm to develop and implement proven strategies to protect your interests as an employer, and manage any disputes that may arise.

3 Important Reasons Why California and San Diego Employers Need a Proven Business Attorney:

• California is the toughest state in the union in which to be an employer.  We have more federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances than anywhere else in the nation.  California has even devised its own Private Attorneys General Act or PAGA to allow workers to go after those who employ them on behalf of the State of California.
• Recent changes at the federal level and here in California have created even more requirements for employers to fulfill, and for workers to leverage to create disputes and lawsuits.  The best defense is a good offense.  You need experienced employer defense attorneys to review your existing policies, procedures, employee handbook, and employee review processes to identify and close gaps of exposure.
• Employers need an experienced, proven attorney they can call, on a moment’s notice, and ask questions based on issues in the workplace or correspondence from a state agency or law firm requesting employee information.  If you’re an employer in California, it’s not a matter of “if,” it’s a matter of “when.”

Four Decades of Experience Protecting, Representing and Defending California Employers

The experienced wage and hour and employer defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm have advised California and San Diego employers and corporate clients for over four decades. California is the toughest state in the union in which to be an employer.  We have more federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances than anywhere else in the nation.  California has even devised its own Private Attorneys General Act or PAGA to allow workers to go after those who employ them on behalf of the State of California.

The past few years have brought substantial change with respect to federal, state and local laws and regulations that govern employers throughout San Diego and the State of California.  It is important to stay abreast of these changes, and to improve your own compliance with an ever-changing workplace environment.

There have been a substantial number of changes in the past few years within California law that directly affect California employers.  These changes affect everything from rest and meal break, personal and family representatives, leave, meal and rest breaks, and minimum wage to the reports employers are required to provide to state and federal agencies.  There are even issues with your paychecks and paystubs that could expose you to a class action lawsuit.  This is especially true for out-of-state employers coming into California.  There is now the ability for an employee to identify a “Designated Person” each year which expands the scope of family leave.  Workplace safety regulations, pay data, job posting and reporting associated with “labor contractors” must be integrated into changes involving the employee handbook as well as policies and procedures.

Recent changes in employment law and the misclassification of independent contractors has resulted in a new level of “status audits” by the EDD and exposure to heavy financial penalties, as well as back pay, payroll taxes, benefits and interest.  ADA litigation and FMLA disputes are also rapidly increasing, and California courts tend to side with employees in these matters.  How can a business compete?

Pro-Tip: “First of all, when a plaintiff thinks about suing, they go to a lawyer, right? And then you’ll see a change in the way they’re talking to you. So there’s one all of a 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 your lawyer, I would run a check to see if anything was filed already, because what I would do if I were a plaintiff’s lawyer, I’m going to file it and not let you know until I’ve gathered evidence. 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. And you could be fixing things, mitigating things before their case gets going and beat them to the punch, so to speak.

So we can look it up. You think you’re getting sued? We can look it up and tell you if online, if anyone’s filed an action against you today.  And even if there isn’t a lawsuit filed, there’s usually something you can do to make things better or to make them go away altogether.  Like a simple description of how you’re treating this employee sends off bells and whistles to us or sends off nothing.  And yet, if you treat them decently and under the law, that goes a long way if it ever gets to court.  If you think there’s something going on and we spot it, we can say, okay, instead of communicating this way, we’ll give you some good suggestions on what to say, how to say it. We can actually ghost write your emails for you, and because we’re your lawyer, no one can ever discover that. So we can do lots of things for you to really set yourself up for the worst and hopefully head off a lawsuit.

No doubt about it. There’s always some lawyer looking at a paycheck and trying to figure out whether it came on time, whether the deductions were correct, whether everything was stated clearly and not in a vague manner, whether the size of the type print is correct.  Whether anything they can think of is wrong. And sometimes they just send out a letter and they’ll be wrong, but they’ll just want to blackmail somebody. They’ll send out a frivolous claim to try to get you.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

A Proven Business Attorney for San Diego Employers with Decades of Experience

If you are searching for a proven business attorney for San Diego employers with decades of experience consider the Watkins Firm.  Ask about our extensive experience in negotiations, settlement conferences, mediation, arbitration, and at trial.  Not just here in San Diego, but the type of national trials that garner the attention of national news networks, involving huge employers.  It doesn’t matter if you employ 5 people, or 50,000, the Watkins Firm has 40+ years of experience serving the business, science and tech, real estate and medical / healthcare communities here in San Diego and across California.  Our business attorneys provide sound counsel at every step in the life of your business.  Our employer defense attorneys provide a strong offense to keep our clients out of trouble and within compliance.  We also step in immediately and get them out of disputes and lawsuits quickly, and efficiently.

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. Learn about our services as general business counsel for San Diego employers and how we help you to eliminate litigation risks and position your company for rapid growth.

Meet Dan Watkins:

Daniel W. Watkins is a true people person who sincerely listens. He cares deeply about what others are going through.  Dan enjoys digging into the facts and finding creative solutions to problems.  He contributes his insights candidly and constructively.

Dan’s interest in people make him deeply invested in every relationship and his exuberant personality makes him a true litigator. Dan fights for his clients with a fierce and calculated commitment.

Dan has practiced in the areas of business, medical practices and healthcare business, high tech/science, real estate and employment defense law since 1987. He is a trusted litigation strategist and true trial attorney with over 50 jury and bench trials to his credit. Dan has successfully represented both large companies and individuals and achieved substantial victories in well-publicized trials throughout California and the U.S.

He is experienced in business and corporate formation and administration, as well as all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including binding arbitration and mediation.

THE ROAD TO BECOMING A BUSINESS LAWYER AND LITIGATOR

Dan has almost 40 years of experience working with, for and against some of the largest insurance companies in the country. He has successfully tried and litigated cases in the areas of Healthcare Compliance, Commercial Litigation, Unfair Business Practices, Fraud, Breach of Contract, Battery, Premises Liability, Product Defect, Medical Malpractice, Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Construction Defect, as well as Unfair Competition, Defamation, and Trade Secrets.

In December 2003, Dan commenced litigation against Health South Surgery Centers-West, Inc and its’ subsidiaries, exposing the company’s extensive mismanagement and misconduct of its’ surgery centers. Dan has also been asked by some of California’s largest municipalities and corporations to conduct legally required investigations into matters involving alleged employment discrimination and harassment.