Frier Levitt understands that every business, practice, employer, employee, and situation is different. Our work product is not generic; we take a holistic approach to our clients’ individual needs and tailor solutions to their unique circumstances.
Frier Levitt knows that no two employers—or employment issues—are the same. Whether you’re a healthcare provider, life sciences company, staffing agency, tech company, nonprofit, or manufacturer, our Employment Law attorneys offer personalized legal strategies that protect your organization, support your workforce, and minimize risk. Our approach is never one-size-fits-all—we deliver tailored, proactive solutions that align with your unique goals and operations.
Comprehensive Employment Counseling Across the Workforce Lifecycle
We help employers navigate every stage of the hiring and performance process. From drafting and reviewing applications and offer letters to guiding you through background and reference checks and interviews that are compliant with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, “ban the box laws”, and pay transparency laws, among others. Our lawyers help managers and others who conduct job interviews to ensure that questions asked are lawful and do not violate anti-discrimination laws.
Many companies perform evaluations of their employees. Issues can often arise when employers provide inaccurate, incomplete, or untimely reviews of an employee’s performance. Our lawyers work with HR and management to conduct lawful and effective performance evaluations, helping prevent legal exposure and improving employee relations through timely, fair, and documented reviews.
We advise both employers and executives—especially in healthcare and life sciences – on all aspects of executive compensation, including negotiating employment and severance agreements, equity and other incentive plans, change-in-control agreements, and deferred compensation arrangements. Our team also advises on compensation and other issues arising out of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, partnerships, and restructurings. Our clients include medical practices, as well as physicians, senior executives, and CEOs. Whether you’re structuring a deal or negotiating an exit, we provide experienced legal counsel to support your goals.
When performance issues develop or employee misconduct occurs, proper documentation is critical. Our lawyers train executives and managers on effective documentation strategies to preserve potential defenses in litigation.
When our clients must separate employees for performance reasons or misconduct, they must be careful to protect themselves from wrongful termination claims. Our lawyers guide our clients through the separation process and draft severance agreements and releases of claims.
When economic necessity requires companies to restructure or reduce their workforces, we help clients navigate the complex web of laws and regulations that come into play when implementing significant reorganizations, reductions, furloughs, and mass layoffs, including the federal WARN Act and similar state laws, the ADEA and Older Workers Benefit Protections Act (“OWBPA”), ERISA, COBRA, unemployment protections and benefits, and other laws and regulations impacting reductions. To identify and mitigate potential liability, we conduct sensitive and privileged disparate impact and statistical analyses and draft separation agreements compliant with the OWBPA and other federal, state and local laws.
Ongoing Legal Support for Employment Compliance
Our labor and employment attorneys regularly draft, review and update workplace policies and employee handbooks for clients across the U.S. to ensure their policies stay current and compliant with changes in the law. We provide real-time updates on employment law changes and conduct on-site or virtual training on key compliance topics.
When faced with employee complaints, including whistleblowing, harassment, and discrimination complaints, our lawyers conduct thorough and discreet internal investigations under the cloak of the attorney-client privilege. We also provide reputation management strategies in collaboration with public relations personnel and consultants to manage and prevent serious damage to our clients’ reputations in the media, protect your brand and workforce culture. We investigate matters ranging from sexual harassment to whistleblower claims to trade secret misappropriation claims.
Employment Law in Corporate Transactions
Joint ventures, affiliations, and mergers and acquisitions often involve critical labor and employment and employee benefits issues which, if not identified and dealt with properly, can lead to significant liability or scuttle a deal. Our team identifies and remediates such important issues, including misclassification, wage & hour, workers’ compensation, employment tax, change of control, severance, and other executive compensation agreements. Our labor and employment lawyers work closely with our healthcare lawyers to make sure that our clients are properly protected from liability.
Restrictive Covenant and Trade Secret Protection
We help clients safeguard their confidential and proprietary information and intellectual property through customized employment contracts, restrictive covenant agreements, and non-disclosure agreements. Whether you’re onboarding new employees and executives to make sure they do not breach their agreements with their former employers, or pursuing enforcement against former employees, our attorneys are equipped to litigate or defend restrictive covenants and non-disclosure agreements and allegations of employee raiding and poaching allegations.
Harassment, Discrimination, and Whistleblower Litigation
Our lawyers have significant experience in representing employers in the full spectrum of harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims, including claims based on age, race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, pregnancy and disability reasonable accommodations, and equal pay. Our attorneys appear regularly in the defense of such claims before the EEOC, local agencies, and federal and state courts.
Wage & Hour Litigation
We advise our clients on wage and hour compliance and strategies to help prevent claims and litigation. When disputes arise before the USDOL and other federal and state agencies, including individual, multi-plaintiff, and class and collective action claims, we respond swiftly with strategies to resolve the claims quickly and efficiently while mitigating damages. Class and collective action claims are often “bet-the-company litigation,” and therefore require a steady hand to navigate the complex web of wage and hour laws and regulations.
Who We Serve
Frier Levitt advises employers in healthcare, life sciences, and other private and nonprofit clients across all industries in labor and employment matters, including:
- Hospitals and Health Systems
- Medical Practices
- Ambulatory Surgery Centers
- Independent Physician Associations (IPAs)
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Contract Research Organizations
- Home Health and Hospice Agencies
- Pharmacies
- Staffing Companies
- Tech Companies
- Financial Institutions
- Manufacturers and Distributors
- Publishers
- Non-profits
- Independent Schools
Frier Levitt provides strategic, industry-focused legal counsel tailored to your needs. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you navigate your legal challenges.
Navigating Complex Employee Benefits, Retirement Plan and Executive Compensation ERISA and Tax Laws
Employers, plan sponsors, and fiduciaries face an increasingly complex regulatory landscape under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, and related federal and state laws. With heightened enforcement, increased litigation risk, and the need to balance employee benefits with business goals, organizations need experienced counsel that understands the intricacies of employee benefits law, executive compensation, tax and ERISA compliance.
Frier Levitt’s ERISA, Tax and Employee Benefits attorneys provide comprehensive legal support across the full spectrum of benefits and compensation matters. We partner with employers, plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and boards of directors to mitigate risk of liability, ensure compliance, and design forward-thinking strategies that align with business objectives.
Areas of Focus
Our team advises on the design, drafting, compliance counseling, and administration of retirement plans, including 401(k), defined benefit, multiemployer, church, and governmental plans. We counsel plan sponsors on ERISA fiduciary duties, governance best practices, and ERISA and tax compliance reviews, and regularly represent clients in IRS and DOL audits and investigations. We also assist with fiduciary structure reviews, plan corrections, and contract negotiations with third-party administrators.
We have extensive experience designing and counseling group health and welfare plans and related tax vehicles, including cafeteria plans, HSAs, FSAs, HRAs, and VEBAs. Our attorneys advise on compliance with ACA, HIPAA, COBRA, ERISA fiduciary rules, tax and DOL regulations, while also helping clients implement cybersecurity and data privacy best practices to safeguard benefit plan data. We also conduct operational due diligence reviews on plans and addressing plans’ third-party vendor reviews, contracts and RFPs. Our Frier Levitt health care practice group attorneys also conduct audits of PBM contracts. We also counsel employers on claims, appeals, and litigation risk and liability mitigation.
Frier Levitt provides technical expertise on design, drafting and compliance of executive compensation incentive plans and arrangements, including restricted stock plans, tax advantaged incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), share appreciation rights (SARs), phantom stock arrangements, deferred compensation, severance, and bonus structures. We design and review compensation arrangements to ensure compliance with ERISA and tax including Sections 409A, 280G, and 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code, while aligning business strategy and governance requirements. Our attorneys also advise on cross-border incentive plans and startup stock option programs, ensuring that companies remain competitive in attracting and retaining top talent.
Employee benefits, ERISA plans and executive compensation tax issues are often a critical component of corporate transactions. Our team advises on M&A due diligence, disclosure schedules, post-closing integration, and ERISA and tax compliance in stock and asset sales, corporate restructurings, and spin-offs. Working collaboratively with other Frier Levitt practice groups, we provide a multidisciplinary approach that ensures all aspects of a deal are properly evaluated.
With the rise of ERISA class action lawsuits involving retirement and health plans, employer sponsors and fiduciaries face significant liability exposure. Our experienced ERISA litigators defend clients in matters involving excessive fees, fiduciary breaches, and plan mismanagement, representing companies before courts, tribunals, and regulatory agencies. We also developed a proactive fiduciary operational due diligence program, addressing governance and compliance to help minimize litigation risks and liability. We also provide ERISA Fiduciary Training to support Plan Sponsors and help them to understand fiduciary duties, best practice governance, protecting plan assets and data against cyber theft and steps to mitigate risk of lability and plan losses.
We also provide ERISA Fiduciary Training to support Plan Sponsors and fiduciaries address fiduciary duties, potential ERISA breaches, prohibited transactions, best practice governance, protecting plan assets and data against cyber theft and steps to mitigate risk of liability and plan losses.
Key Services at a Glance
- ERISA and tax plan design, compliance and operational due diligence review
- Retirement plan governance, design, and correction submissions
- Health and welfare plan compliance (including addressing ACA, HIPAA and COBRA)
- Executive compensation planning and compliance (IRC Sections 409A, 280G and 4999)
- Cybersecurity and data privacy for benefit plans and participants
- M&A and transaction ERISA and tax due diligence review and consulting to plan, close and post transaction integration of pension, executive compensation and employee benefit plans
- ERISA fiduciary training, compliance counseling, litigation defense, representation for governmental audits
Who We Serve
We counsel a wide range of clients, including:
- Public and private companies of all sizes and industries
- Tax-exempt organizations and government entities
- Boards of directors and plan fiduciaries
- Emerging growth companies and startups
Why Frier Levitt?
Our ERISA and Employee Benefits team combine decades of experience with a deep understanding of evolving laws and regulations. We take a proactive approach to compliance, risk mitigation, and strategic planning, helping clients not only meet regulatory compliance requirements but also leverage their benefits and executive compensation and incentive programs as tools for growth, retention, and competitive advantage.
Ready to strengthen your employee benefits and executive compensation compliance programs and maximize your company’s incentive plan goals and objectives? Frier Levitt provides strategic, industry-focused legal counsel tailored to your needs. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you navigate your legal challenges.
