Laura Friedel, '98: Navigating the Changing Workplace
Laura Friedel Featured in Crain’s Roundtable on Navigating the Changing Workplace
Laura Friedel, Partner and Chair of Levenfeld Pearlstein’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, was one of four attorneys recently profiled in a roundtable discussion by Crain’s about “Navigating Today’s Changing Workplace.”
The Affordable Care Act, overtime rules, state laws relating to pay equity, parental leave and predictable scheduling have created a year of change and adjustments for employers. Crain’s asked its panelists to weigh in on current topics as well as provide best practices to avoid costly employment issues.
“The two best things (employers) can do is make sure that employment-related documents are updated and fit the business well, and to train managers on the basics of employment-law requirements and how to document employment-related issues,” said Friedel. “Whether it's offer letters, commission plans, bonus plans, confidentiality agreements, non-solicit/non-compete agreements, separation agreements or employment policies, the key to good documents is that they speak to a company's priorities and include the language that legally needs to be included to protect the company. They also need to be updated to meet current standards. And when it comes to avoiding costs around employee discipline and terminations, it's important that employers train their managers on how they should be documenting performance issues. Good documentation is often the difference between a clean, low-risk separation and an expensive, high-risk separation.”
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