Compliance is complicated. Ensuring that the policies and procedures in place are correct for a particular organization requires knowledge of the law, experience with policy implementations, and sensitivity to organizational culture and capabilities. We provide cost-effective audits and assistance.

There are going to be times when an employee, officer, or director needs a course correction. We offer coaching to shine a light on blind spots and to help with an individualized remedial plan.

Facilitated conflict resolution is not only faster and less costly than litigation, but it also enhances management flexibility and in some cases can preserve working relationships. Whether it’s an intractable problem with a specific employee or more general dysfunction within an operating division, we have the expertise, experience, and people to address the problem.

We draft, review, and negotiate a range of agreements. Examples include individual employment contracts, collective bargaining agreements, confidentiality agreements for a variety of situations, severance/separation agreements, joint employment contracts with allocations of responsibility, “last chance agreements,” bonus plans, and others.

You ask — we answer. Questions about new legislation? Intermittent leave? Protected speech? If it’s in or about the workplace, it’s within the scope of our practice.

Retained by organizations or their attorneys, we provide neutral investigations into complaints or concerns of workplace impropriety or illegality. We provide, and if necessary defend, factual findings to aid the decision makers.

We represent clients in federal and state courts at both trial and appellate levels; in arbitration; and before a range of administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Minnesota Human Rights Department, and other federal and state agencies. We use advanced technology to keep our clients’ data secure and to process information efficiently.

We negotiate—or assist our clients to negotiate—in a variety of contexts, including union contracts, employment separations, alternative dispute resolution, individual employment agreements, and other matters.

Employee handbooks, management manuals, drug and alcohol testing policies, paid time off conversions, and all the related forms: we’ve done it. Whether your organization is up for a regular policy review or it has jumped to a new level of complexity with new policy needs, we can assist.

Whether in the course of fixing a specific problem or of auditing general procedures, we help organizations to improve their systems and outcomes. Sometimes the improvement results in greater alignment between an organization’s values and its customs; sometimes it results in simply more effective coordination among human resources functions.

We offer a range of training modules to fit most schedules and budgets, including supervisory training, recognizing and responding to unlawful harassment and bullying, minimizing risks from discipline and discharge, handling complaints, conducting internal investigations, avoiding unfair labor practices, performance management, and other areas.

Unions are as varied as other organizations. The effective management of workplace issues affecting unionization requires customization to a client’s values and operations. Whether an organization is addressing labor relations for the first time, or it is past time for a change in approach, we have the understanding, experience, and credibility to provide effective assistance.

A focused assessment of the workplace climate in a functional division always reveals highly valuable and previously unknown data. It is perhaps the most unused but highly effective tool at management’s disposal. Although these assessments are generally undertaken after a spate of incidents causes an employer to dig deeper into a section’s culture, they nearly always produce additional information that is key to an organization’s development. We have performed revealing and helpful assessments for a variety of organizations.