Why Get Help from an Employment Lawyer Before Hiring Your First Employee?

If you are thinking about hiring an employee for your company for the first time, you should speak with an Orange County employment lawyer first. You have many responsibilities as an employer and you need to make certain that you understand the labor laws and tax laws applicable to you so you do not find yourself in legal trouble due to failing to comply with all of your obligations. 

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can provide you with invaluable advice about hiring employees while complying with both state law and federal law. If you get the right legal help from an experienced attorney, your attorney can guide you through every step of the process, from securing the right insurance to following rules from a wide variety of agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Department of Labor.

Why You Need to Talk with an Orange County Employment Lawyer Before Hiring

In California and throughout the United States, there are strict requirements that employers must comply with. For example:

• The California Department of Industrial Relations explains that all employers have to buy workers’ compensation insurance. You must purchase a policy for your employee, even if you have only one person working for you.
• Employers are required to comply with IRS obligations for verifying the identity of workers and for verifying their eligibility to work. Employers also have to withhold appropriate payroll taxes and must file returns and pay taxes to the IRS.
• Employers must comply with all wage and hour laws, including paying at or above the minimum wage, paying for all time worked, and paying for overtime for non-exempt employees.
• Employers have to follow workplace safety standards, including standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This means maintaining a safe worksite and posting any and all required notices about workplace hazards.
• Employers have to abide by nondiscrimination laws which prohibit consideration of age, race, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, and other protected status. Employers not only must avoid overt discrimination but also must avoid disparate impact discrimination and must take steps to ensure that no employee is subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of that employee’s protected status. This means you cannot give tests or impose conditions that disqualify more people of a protected class unless there is a bone fide job-related justification for the test, and you cannot allow any of your employees to behave in an abusive or harassing way.

These are just a few of a great many obligations that are imposed upon employers when they hire workers. It is up to you to know exactly what the law requires of you and to ensure that you are in full compliance with the laws applicable to the employer/employee relationship.

How an Orange County Employment Lawyer Can Help You

Many people who hire an employee for the first time are unfamiliar with all of the different steps that they must take and all of the different worker benefits and protections that they are obliged to provide to workers. Inadvertently violating the law can have very serious consequences and can lead to a lawsuit against your company or to government agency action being taken against you for violating the rules. Substantial costs could result, doing significant damage to your company’s finances, even if you were not aware that you were violating regulations.

An Orange County employment lawyer can help to make certain that this does not happen. An experienced attorney can provide you with assistance in understanding what kinds of regulations will apply when you have made your new hire. Your attorney can advise you on ways to minimize the risks of a lawsuit or other adverse legal proceedings so hiring an employee can be a blessing and benefit to your business, rather than a detriment that results in legal problems. Be sure to get help as soon as possible so you can make informed choices throughout the entirety of the hiring process.

Contact an Orange County Employment Lawyer Today

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP knows California and federal laws for hiring workers and providing employees with a safe environment and appropriate wages and benefits. We will be there to advise you at every step of the hiring process. We work hard to help you protect your business while it is growing with new employees, and we will help you to take steps to ensure that your new employees do not result in you facing any legal trouble. Give us a call at (866)237-8129 or contact us online to find out more.