Helping You Understand Your Rights As An Employer Or As An Employee
The purpose of labor and employment laws are to protect both employers and employees from unfair practices. By understanding how state and federal employment laws function, both businesses and workers are better informed.
At Snyder Law Firm LLC, we represent employers and employees in all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring through termination.
Employment Matters We Routinely Handle
For employers, we are able to proactively counsel clients on many topics that can cause litigation headaches if handled improperly, including:
- Human resource policies and practices, wage and hour issues, and employment-at-will matters.
- Drafting and review of employment agreements, including non-compete and confidentiality agreements.
- Drafting and review of severance agreements.
In the courtroom, our attorneys have experience both pursuing and defending discrimination and retaliation claims, including claims involving race, gender, age and other types of discrimination, as well as whistle-blower retaliation.
In addition, we have prosecuted and defended non-compete/non-solicitation claims in state and federal courts.
Who Is Protected?
At the heart of many employment laws is the concept of “protected classes.” If an employee has a characteristic that fits in one of these classes, federal and state laws prohibit discrimination or harassment based on that characteristic. A few of the protected classes covered under Kansas and Missouri state law include:
- Identity: gender, age (over 40), ethnicity/race, religion
- Disability, ancestry or genetic information
- Arrest and court records
- History of FMLA, an injury with or without a workers’ compensation claim
- Being pregnant, having a child or children, or status as a parent
- Complaints of illegal activity or conduct, including not being paid proper wages or overtime
Harassment can be written or verbal, physical or visual. Employers also cannot take “retaliatory” behavior toward an employee based on the employee’s identity or for reporting an incident of harassment or discrimination.
Employers can protect themselves by creating clear, specific and detailed employee handbooks. Offering seminars to employees and providing training on what is not allowed and what to do if harassment or discrimination happens are often beneficial. As experienced Kansas employment law attorneys, we can offer counsel and guidance on these and other employment matters.
Call Us Regarding Your Workplace Rights
Our firm partners have extensive litigation experience and the ability to find solutions for the complex problems, whether you are an employer or an employee. Call (913) 685-3900 or connect with the firm via email. We serve clients throughout the Kansas City area and are licensed in both Kansas and Missouri.