Labor and Employment

California maintains a unique body of employment laws and regulations with significant differences from federal law; as a result, nearly half of our labor and employment attorneys are based in our California offices. Our California labor and employment team offers substantive experience defending and helping our clients navigate through the complexities of the state's labor and employment system. Winston & Strawn's California labor and employment department and attorneys are continually recognized in various rankings, including Chambers USA. As the publication recently stated, "the attorneys are tactically sound and always offer excellent advice." The group was also listed in U.S. News & World Report's – 2010 Best Law Firms edition, Employment Law – Management (California), which reported that one client referred to our team as "the best class action wage and hour lawyers in CA."

At Winston & Strawn, we pride ourselves on our ability to develop creative solutions for California's unique workplace rules with emphasis in the following areas:

• Wage and hour compliance litigation. California's labor and employment law differs from federal law in many areas, including "off-the clock"; misclassification; meal and rest breaks; unlawful deductions; commission chargebacks; waiting time penalties; expense reimbursement; itemized wage statements; payroll practices; and California Unfair Competition Law – Section 17200. Our wage and hour attorneys have defended more than 100 wage-hour class actions collectively, which provides us with unique abilities to negotiate and defend claims based on classes of employees. We have also had great success in litigating failure to pay overtime and provide required meal- and rest-break claims.
• Discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination litigation. California's antidiscrimination laws include protections, for example, for sexual orientation and marital status. As the cornerstone of our practice, our employment litigation team consists of a seasoned group of litigators who are able to successfully guide our clients as they conduct effective internal investigations into workplace harassment claims. Additionally, our attorneys provide day-to-day advice and counsel on wrongful termination and discrimination issues.
• Employment law advice, counseling, and training. California employers face a myriad of unique leave laws, vacation requirements, and sick pay regulations. Our experienced group of subject matter experts help employers navigate these peculiarities of California employment law through day to day counseling, handbook and policy review and revision, and training for all levels of employees.