Effective counsel for employment relationships begins with an understanding of the employer’s business goals. RCO Law Labor and Employment attorneys work with local, regional and national employers addressing all aspects of the employment relationship.
The Firm represents unionized and union-free employers and provides counsel on handbook and policy drafting and reviews; hiring, firing, and retention challenges; pre-suit resolution of employment matters and litigation and arbitration of those matters. The Firm continues to counsel employers on COVID-19 compliance and safety precautions as well as the new work environments the pandemic has revealed.
We advise on hiring, firing, and claims for unemployment compensation, harassment, discrimination, medical leave regulations and accommodation. We draft and review handbooks and policies, and counsel on compliance issues. We prepare and evaluate contracts, covenants not to compete and restrictive covenants, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, and separation and termination agreements.
From union organizing, elections, and collective bargaining to labor arbitration and other matters under the authority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the State Employment Relations Board (SERB), we provide comprehensive management services for unionized employers and management. We also defend cases of unfair labor practice charges, grievances, and matters subject to arbitration.
We represent the interests of both state fund and self-insured employers before the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) and the Ohio Industrial Commission (IC). Our lawyers appear before District Hearing Officers (DHO), Staff Hearing Officers (SHO) and the Industrial Commission, and through appeals and mandamus actions in the courts of common pleas beyond the administrative stage. We also defend employers against VSSR claims and assist with disputes before the BWC over premiums assessed and employee classification issues for purposes of premium allocation.
A significant focus of our employment practice is the defense of employers facing charges of discrimination or unfair labor practices in state and federal courts or before a governmental agency such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Department of Labor (DOL), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), State Employment Relations Board (SERB), Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC), Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio Unemployment Compensation Review Commission (UCRC), Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC), Ohio Industrial Commission, or Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR).
We also prosecute and defend actions seeking injunctive relief in matters involving violations of restrictive covenants, non-compete agreements, and other employment contract disputes.