Members of the Baker Botts Labor and Employment Practice Group serve as a trusted advisors on a broad range of domestic and international labor and employment matters. They are also well-equipped to handle employers’ most difficult employee-related litigation matters.

Practical Advice.
Our team provides business-practical solutions to often complex employee issues. We understand that employee issues are often urgent, so we serve our clients with alacrity. We handle everything from complex executive terminations involving 8-K and say on pay issues to sensitive investigations, everyday advice on leave and performance issues, talent management, handbooks and policies, use of AI in employment decision-making, wage and hour issues, restrictive covenants issues, mass layoffs, OSHA compliance, immigration issues, pay equity and pay transparency matters, OFCCP/affirmative action plan work, Davis-Bacon Act matters, and compliance with ever-changing federal, state and local laws covering employees. We also handle international employment law issues for our global clients.

High-Risk and Mission-Critical Litigation Experience. 
We are often asked to take over difficult cases from other counsel and turn them around to best position them for dismissal, trial, or favorable settlement. We represent our clients in cases ranging from simple labor arbitrations to trials and class actions with hundreds of millions of dollars in potential liability exposure. We also handle administrative proceedings before federal and state agencies such as the EEOC, OSHA, and the Department of Labor. Our experience includes class actions and individual discrimination claims, workplace harassment claims, collective and individual wage and hour litigation, employment contract and wrongful discharge lawsuits, ERISA benefits and fiduciary duty claims, employment tort litigation claims, and hybrid employment/business litigation matters involving covenants-not-to-compete, theft of trade secrets and misappropriation of confidential/proprietary business information. Our team also has experience in traditional labor relations, including union avoidance, collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, and cases before the National Labor Relations Board.

Full Suite of Transactional-Focused Labor and Employment Services. 
We provide tailored due diligence based on our clients’ needs, including reviewing critical employee documents such as employee handbooks, policies, contracts, and collective bargaining agreements. We also conduct audits, as needed, of personnel practices and data to assess potential liability for major issues such as employee misclassification. We help negotiate terms in the deal and related deal documents to assist with the successful transition of employees and distribution of employee-related liabilities, including terms addressing severance pay, restrictive covenants, successor liability under federal and state laws, payment of accrued PTO, and other potential employment-related liabilities. We also provide support in the integration of employees both during and following the deal, ensuring the appropriate employee agreements, policies, and other documents are in place.

Baker Botts also has lawyers to assist clients with all legal and operational aspects of their executive compensation and employee benefits plan arrangements.