Workplace Training & Counseling

Workplace Training

It has been shown that proper training of employees and supervisors not only helps employers prevent costly litigation, and prevail if litigation occurs, but also helps to foster a more productive and respectful work environment. The experienced attorneys at Clark Baird Smith LLP deliver distinctive training programs to a variety of private and public sector employer groups, as well as to groups of employees, so they can stay current on the ever-changing landscape of labor and employment law issues. Our training programs enable both employers and employees to effectively manage labor and employment issues in a proactive and legally defensibly manner.

Clark Baird Smith LLP attorneys have extensive experience in presenting training programs that cover topics in areas such as anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, respectful workplace, union relations, supervisory status, workplace privacy, hiring, layoffs and terminations, disciplinary investigations, leave and injured worker issues, employee classification, grievance handling, social media, PSEBA, PEDA, and other related topics. We continue to develop training programs upon client request that cover a wide variety of topics relative to labor and employment law.

Workplace Counseling

As part of our counseling practice, Clark Baird Smith LLP attorneys are called upon to conduct workplace investigations, particularly high profile investigations that generate media attention and affect operations.

Our attorneys regularly counsel employers on ways to proactively avoid litigation. In addition to working with clients to establish best practices and appropriate policies designed to minimize the risk of litigation. We provide valuable advice when issues arise concerning terminations, performance counseling, workplace violence, fitness for duty, union grievances, unfair labor practice charges, and other employment and labor law issues. Our attorneys have also advised clients on implementing reductions in forced, including WARN Act implications.

Wage and Hour Counseling

For several years now, wage and hour litigation has led all other types of employment-related lawsuits. Clark Baird Smith LLP attorneys help clients minimize their chances of becoming the latest statistic in this growing trend.

Our attorneys can analyze and quickly respond to the full gamut of wage and hour questions under both state and federal law. In addition to handling the traditional wage payment questions that arise with private sector businesses, our attorneys are skilled at answering questions that are unique to the public sector, such as questions about compensatory time, 7(k) work periods, pay for canine handlers, and shift trades, to name a few. Our attorneys help employers understand how wage and hour issues overlap with any bargaining obligations the employer might or might not have with represented employees.

Clark Baird Smith LLP help employers proactively identify hidden problems that might exist with pay practices by conducting wage and hour audits. These audits can encompass a wide variety of payment practices, including: verifying that employees have been correctly classified as “exempt” or “non-exempt”; ensuring non-exempt employees are properly paid for all hours worked; checking compliance with state laws regarding meal and rest periods; verifying that overtime is calculated properly; ensuring that any unpaid workers qualify as volunteers or unpaid interns under the law; and ensuring that record keeping practices comply with state and federal law. If audits reveal any vulnerabilities, our attorneys work hand-in-hand with employers to develop solutions and effectively communicate any changes to the workforce in a manner designed to minimize litigation risks.

Injured worker, PSEBA, and PEDA

Clark Baird Smith LLP routinely counsels public safety employers about injured worker issues. We coordinate with counsel representing public sector employers in worker’s compensation claims and help employers administer Illinois’ various leave and benefit laws for sworn public safety personnel and others. In particular, we have advised clients on the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA) and Public Employee Disability Act (PEDA), and their interplay with other benefit laws such as the Family & Medical Leave Act and the Illinois Workers Compensation Act. Our attorneys have helped litigate and defend a number of PSEBA and PEDA claims over the years in both state court and ancillary proceedings before fire and police pensions boards. In fact, our very own Ted Clark and Jim Powers successfully defended one of the very first reported PSEBA cases in Illinois in 2001, which resulted in a (then) favorable definition of the term “catastrophic injury” for Illinois employers. See Villarreal v. Village of Schaumburg, 325 Ill. App. 3d 1157 (1st Dist. 2001).

Litigation is costly. Our attorneys work hard to counsel clients to help them avoid it. We proactively work with public employers in developing strategies for addressing potential PEDA and PSEBA claims before they reach state court. We firmly believe that an early and thorough investigation of a sworn employee’s injury claim can help minimize an employer’s future liability. In this respect, our attorneys regularly help public employers develop application and hearing processes by which an applicant’s injury and disability claims can be tested at the earliest possible stage.

As a result of the firm’s representation of hundreds of public employers, we have advised our clients on a wide variety of employee benefit issues, including public sector pension issues, retiree medical insurance issues, severance arrangements, and voluntary employee separation plans. Again, Clark Baird Smith LLP attorneys bring to the table their knowledge of the underlying operational issues to investigate injuries, become involved in any pension applications and/or proceedings to enable the public safety department to best defend itself against these and future PSEBA claims. Through our consultative and business-oriented approach we can quickly respond to client needs in all areas of employee benefits.