Employment, Benefits and Immigration

We provide comprehensive employment-related legal services to startup companies. Our practice is also sufficiently large and sophisticated to shepherd successful start-up enterprises through rapid changes as they grow.

We provide both day-to-day advice and strategic consulting on every aspect of personnel management that faces growing enterprises - from hiring and succession planning to termination and severance; from wages and routine compensation to stock incentive plans; from employee benefits plans to leaves of absence. Our lawyers have significant experience in dealing with issues of particular importance to emerging companies, such as drafting or enforcement of non-compete agreements and trade secret non-disclosure agreements.

Our ultimate goal is to provide legal assistance that will help emerging companies retain valuable employees and improve or terminate employees who fail to meet expectations. Our services include:

• The preparation of employment agreements and covenants not to compete or not to disclose trade secrets;
• The preparation of clear, consistent and enforceable employee handbooks and employment policies;
• The delivery of clear and reliable wage and hour compliance advice;
• The navigation of overlapping state and federal laws relating to family and medical leave, disability accommodation and maternity leave;
• The delivery of timely guidance regarding developing workplace privacy issues related to the Internet, e-mail and drug or alcohol testing; and
• The drafting of appropriate executive compensation packages and the handling of executive compensation issues as they arise.

While our goal is to keep clients out of the courtroom so that they can focus on their businesses, we stand ready and able to protect our clients in employment-related disputes. Employment litigation commonly arises from disputes with executives, current or former employees, or talent raiders targeting small but successful entities. Our employment litigators have handled complex cases that are local, regional and national in scope, and we have defended employers in agency proceedings as well as local, state and federal courts. We have delivered positive results in cases involving: class action claims; wage and hour disputes; employment discrimination and harassment; wrongful discharge and employment-related disputes; ERISA; benefits disputes; and non-compete or non-disclosure claims.

Learn more about Foley Hoag’s Labor and Employment Law practice, browse our Massachusetts Noncompete Law Blog, or check out our eBook, Five Common Employment Law Hazards for Start-Ups.

Immigration

In today's global economy, competitive businesses need to employ the best and most skilled workers available—wherever they might be located.  For our clients, hiring employees with the right expertise or the most innovative ideas can often be the most important element in their success.  Employing foreign nationals in the United States, however, requires careful attention to U.S. immigration laws.  Our immigration lawyers provide our clients with the benefit of our 30 years of experience getting qualified foreign nationals the right to work for employers in the United States. We understand that U.S. immigration procedures can be complex and intimidating, particularly in the post-September 11 environment. Successfully working through the immigration maze requires careful planning, thorough analysis of the circumstances surrounding each case, selection of an appropriate strategy, and thoughtful preparation of the paperwork necessary to secure approval.  Learn more about Foley Hoag’s Immigration practice.