Employer Liability and Flat Fee Legal Services by BPE Law Attorney Elizabeth Arias

Many business clients are surprised to learn that some employment law violations also carry personal employer liability, meaning that even though the business owner was careful to select the right business entity to protect his/her assets from general liability, just one successful employment law claim against him/her could undo it all.  This is especially true with the rise of employee-friendly laws such as the Labor Code Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) found at Labor Code Section 2698 et seq.  PAGA makes it easy for an employee to sue the employer on behalf of all “aggrieved” employees for the same violations (ex. unpaid overtime) and recover hefty civil penalties against the employer.  The employer could find him/herself facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential liability from just one claim.

In addition, many business clients are surprised to learn that their insurance usually excludes claims for wage and hour violations.  Thus, an employer could spend several thousand dollars, out of pocket,  defending a single employee’s claim.  Making matters worse, usually when one employee brings a claim, it “stirs up the hornet’s nest” emboldening other employees to bring their own claims.  This means that an employer could find themselves near the brink of bankruptcy just because they had to pay to defend these claims.

Moreover, these “surprised” business clients usually have something in common: They relied on the internet or “borrowed” another business’ employment documents and never had an experienced employment attorney review those documents.  They believed that “one size fits all” also applied when it came to their employment handbooks, agreements and payroll records.   Unfortunately, these are the clients that find out the expensive way that an “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

To assist you in getting just the legal services and documents you need at a reasonable and fair rate, we are now in the process of developing a menu of “flat rate” employment law packages designed to help our business clients stay in compliance with federal, state and local employment laws.  BPE Law Group recognizes that not everyone needs a complete range of litigation services, but still may need the assistance of experienced employment law attorneys and compliant employment document. These will allow business clients to choose from as little or as much employment counseling they might need or that fits in their current budget.

While BPE Law Group cannot guarantee any outcome, nor prevent an employee from making a claim, it can make sure the employer’s handbooks, agreements and payroll records are compliant with federal, state and local laws so that when the employee’s attorney reviews these documents, that attorney will quickly realize the employee’s claims have no merit and that the employer is not a “sitting duck” just waiting to be picked off by a financially desperate former employee and his/her attorney.

BPE Law Group is here to assist you in all your employment-related matters, and now for a flat rate, can offer you basic services such as reviewing and/or drafting your employment handbooks and other employment documents, to more complex services such as conducing a physical inspection of your workplace and procedures/systems to ensure legal compliance.

If you have employees and are interested in how BPE Law Group can help you with your employment-related matters, call us at (916) 966-2260 or email Elizabeth Arias at earias@bpelaw.com.

This article is not intended to be legal advice, and should not be taken as legal advice.  Every case requires review of specific facts and history, and a formal agreement for service.  Please feel free to contact us if you need legal advice and are interested in seeing if we can help you