Employment Law Advice and Counsel

Mikaela McDermott provides employment law advice and counsel to employers. Employment law is constantly evolving, both at the federal and state level, and the cost of noncompliance can be significant. Mikaela helps employers comply with the law and reduce risk through an array of business-wide compliance services, including the following:

  • Employment policies and procedures: Mikaela works with employers to ensure that they have employment policies and procedures that are both legally compliant and tailored to the employers’ workplaces.
  • Handbooks: Mikaela drafts and reviews employee handbooks. She produces comprehensive handbooks that comply with the law and reflect workplace cultures.
  • Worker classification audits: Mikaela reviews employers’ classifications of their employees as exempt or nonexempt for compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Massachusetts law. She also reviews employers’ classifications of workers as independent contractors or employees for compliance with the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law and other state and federal laws addressing independent contractors.
  • Pay equity audits: The Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (MEPA) prohibits discrimination based on gender in the payment of wages, but employers have a complete defense under MEPA if, within the three previous years and before any legal action has been filed against them, they have conducted a good faith, reasonable self-evaluation of their pay practices. Mikaela conducts pay equity audits aimed at eliminating gender discrimination in pay practices and establishing the affirmative defense under MEPA.

Mikaela also provides day-to-day legal advice to employers on specific employment situations. The types of matters she handles include:

  • Counseling on employee discipline and termination
  • Counseling on performance improvement plans
  • Negotiation and drafting of employment agreements
  • Negotiation and drafting of severance agreements
  • Counseling on disability, religious, and pregnancy accommodations and the interactive process

Contact us today to discuss your workplace advice needs.

Practice Areas