Our Practice Areas
Employment Law
Ser & Associates Ser & Associates provides a plethora of employment law services for our clients
Such as employee and independent contractor agreements, proper documentation and compensation methods, settlement and severance negotiation, and preparation of policies and handbooks.
When bringing new employees onboard, there is a wide range of matters that businesses need to consider, since employment matters are subject to the laws and regulations of both the federal and state government.
Federal law governs a limited range of matters––including minimum wage, overtime, and discrimination. Under Federal law, employers, for example, are required to pay non-exempt employees minimum wage and time and half for all hours worked over 40 in a week.
Not paying the legally required wages will expose your business to a tremendous amount of liability.
At Ser & Associates, we can help you review your business and determine who is, and who is not, an exempt employee under the law.
Employers are prohibited under federal law from discriminating against employees based on a protected class, which includes race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, and disability. What constitutes discrimination, however, will vary depending on the class.
At Ser & Associates, we can assist you with reviewing your employment practices and policies, including your employee handbook, to ensure your business is not exposed to any potential discrimination liability.
In the event of any employee-employer dispute, Ser & Associates can help you review the situation to make sure that the matter is handled in compliance with the law and does not unnecessarily expose your business to any further risk or litigation.
In Florida, the laws regarding hourly wage and discrimination essentially mirror the federal laws except the fact that the state minimum wage is higher than the federal counterpart.
Florida also governs the use of “restrictive covenants” within employee-employer contracts.
Employers are permitted to restrict an employee’s ability to compete with the business, solicit other employees or customers of the business, require employees to keep business information confidential, and prevent the employee from making any disparaging remarks about the business. These restrictions must be narrowly structured to protect the legitimate business interests of the employer if they are to be considered legally valid and enforceable. If the restrictions are too broad or burdensome, a court may choose not to enforce the provision.
Legitimate interests include the duration in which the restrictive covenant is effective, the geographic period the restrictive covenant covers, and the specific actions that are limited.
At Ser & Associates, we regularly prepare non-compete, non-solicitation, non-disclosure, and non-disparagement agreements for its clients to not only repeatedly use with its employees, but to also ensure that each client protects its business interests vigorously.
Termination of the employment relationship can be just as important, if not more so, than the employment relationship itself.
When terminating an employee, you want to ensure you protect yourself and your business from any potential liability. Florida is an at-will state, which means you can terminate an employee at any time without notice for any reason, except an ILLEGAL one.