Employment law shows up in every offer letter, policy, and hard conversation, and the rules change constantly across federal, state, and local lines. We counsel employers on the full arc of the relationship, from the routine compliance question that comes up on a Tuesday to the case in front of a jury. MC Law is a litigation and transactional firm focused on intellectual property, technology, and business disputes, and that focus shows here: many of our employment matters involve technical and professional workforces, where confidentiality, invention assignment, and noncompete questions sit right next to the pay, leave, and discrimination issues every employer faces. Our goal is a workplace that runs on documented, defensible decisions.
Hiring, Contracts, And Policies
Recruitment and hiring covers job postings and state pay transparency laws, interview practices, background checks under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, ban-the-box rules, and offer letters. Employment contracts covers executive agreements, commission plans, severance terms, and independent contractor agreements, along with the classification question that decides whether someone is an employee at all. Policies and procedures covers handbooks, codes of conduct, remote work and technology use rules, and accommodation processes, written so managers can actually apply them and reviewed for National Labor Relations Act problems even in non-union workplaces. Immigration covers Form I-9 compliance, E-Verify, and the employment-based visa categories, such as H-1B, L-1, and O-1, that technology employers often rely on to hire.
Pay, Leave, Safety, And Privacy
Wage and hour law covers exempt and non-exempt classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime and minimum wage, the salary basis and duties tests, timekeeping, and the stricter state rules in places like California and New York. Leave law covers the FMLA, which applies to employers with 50 or more employees, leave as an ADA accommodation, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, USERRA, and the growing set of state and local paid leave laws. Health and safety covers OSHA compliance and recordkeeping, the general duty clause, inspections, and contesting citations within the 15-working-day window. Employee data monitoring and privacy covers electronic monitoring notices, biometric laws such as Illinois BIPA, and the CCPA's application to the personal information of California employees and applicants.
Discipline, Investigations, And Separations
Discipline covers performance management, progressive discipline, and documentation that will hold up if a decision is challenged later. Internal investigations covers complaints of harassment, discrimination, fraud, and whistleblower concerns: who investigates, how witnesses are interviewed, how privilege is protected, and what the written findings say. Termination, layoffs, and plant closings covers individual terminations, severance and release agreements, and reductions in force. The WARN Act generally requires 60 days' notice before a plant closing or mass layoff at employers with 100 or more employees, and several states add their own mini-WARN statutes with lower thresholds. Releases of age claims must meet the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act's requirements, including 21 or 45 days to consider and seven days to revoke, or the release will not hold.
Discrimination, Harassment, And Retaliation
Discrimination claims arise under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the Equal Pay Act, Section 1981, and state statutes that often reach smaller employers and more protected categories. Harassment work covers prevention, training, investigation, and the Faragher-Ellerth affirmative defense, which depends on having a complaint process that employees actually use. Retaliation has for years been the most common basis alleged in EEOC charges, and it can succeed even when the underlying complaint fails, so we focus on how decisions are made and documented after someone speaks up. Employment litigation covers the defense of EEOC and state agency charges, single-plaintiff lawsuits, FLSA collective actions, Rule 23 class actions, and employment arbitrations, from the position statement through trial and appeal.
Unions, Deals, And Bankruptcy
Unions covers organizing campaigns and NLRB representation petitions, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and unfair labor practice charges, as well as the Section 7 rights that protect concerted activity in workplaces with no union at all. Employment in corporate transactions covers the people side of a deal: diligence on classification, pending claims, and benefit plans, whether employment agreements and restrictive covenants transfer to a buyer, successor liability, and WARN Act timing around a closing. Employment in bankruptcy covers the priority given to wage and benefit claims under Bankruptcy Code Section 507(a)(4) and (a)(5), the limits on retention and severance payments to insiders under Section 503(c), and the modification or rejection of collective bargaining agreements under Section 1113.
Restrictive Covenants And IP
For technology and other knowledge-based companies, the most valuable assets often walk out the door every evening. Restrictive covenants, confidentiality, and IP covers noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements, confidentiality agreements, and invention assignment agreements, including state statutes that limit them, such as California Business and Professions Code Section 16600 and Labor Code Section 2870. Noncompete enforceability varies widely by state, and the FTC's attempted nationwide ban was set aside by a federal court in 2024 and later abandoned by the agency, so state law still controls. When an employee leaves for a competitor, we move quickly: forensic preservation, a demand letter, and when needed a claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act with a request for a temporary restraining order. We handle the same disputes from the hiring side, too.
How We Work And Price It
We work best as ongoing counsel who knows your business before a problem arrives. For most clients, that starts with a short intake on headcount, locations, and workforce structure, a review of the documents that create the most exposure, and a written list of priorities. Our clients are employers in technology and software, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and retail, from startups hiring their first employees to established companies with multistate workforces. Defined work, such as an offer letter, an employment agreement, a separation and release agreement, a handbook, or a position statement responding to an agency charge, is offered as a flat-fee product with stated scope and turnaround. Investigations, layoffs, and litigation are scoped and estimated in writing before we begin.
