Posted on August 7th, 2017
Employment Law and the Serengeti
Ever since I was a kid I have really loved those documentaries about wild animals in their natural environment. Especially the ones about predators and hunting. You know now they are mostly shown on Discovery and the Nature channels with the Lions and Cheetahs in the African wild seeking out their next meal.
Here is an example of what I’m talking about.
On the African Serengeti it truly is survival of the fittest. And the animals, both predator and prey, that utilize their tools and natural skills best within the confines of natures order have the best chance to survive.
So what does California Labor law and the African Serengeti have in common?
Well unfortunately they really they have a lot in common! If you own a business in California, especially a successful one, there are predator eyes on you right now. They are looking for one minor show of weakness so they can attack and devour.
You see for employers the current California business and legal climate is like the African Serengeti plains. Hot, desolate and unforgiving. And you unfortunately are the intended prey. Grazing the plains, minding your own business just trying to feed yourself and your family.
And the predators? Its those very hungry and very greedy employee side lawyers, stalking you waiting for a slip up or any sign of perceived weakness before pouncing.
So what do you need to do? Well you need to learn some lessons from nature. What tactics do the ‘prey’ animals use to survive and not get eaten? Many of them are similar to what you can do to protect your California business from being a victim of predators looking to exploit the labor laws.
Rule 1: Don’t Get Noticed
In the wild, an Animal that’s being hunted by predators #1 trick is to not get noticed in the first place.
So how do you fly under the radar of these greedy employee side attorneys looking for a reason to sue you?
Well the first thing you can do is try to make sure you have an open and good relationship with your employees.
As I pointed out in a previous article employees typically sue employers they do not like. Usually this comes from feeling disrespected or mistreated by management. So be really aware of conflicts you and your supervisors might have with problem employees. Try to settle these right away as the unhappy employees are the ones likely to seek out a lawyer to try to find something to sue for.
A second thing you can do is to have solid employee policies and procedures in place that every employee must sign before working at your company. If an employee has signed policies they can always go back and refer to them if they are thinking of finding a lawyer. Once they see bringing a claim against you might not be as financially lucrative for them (if the policies are written correctly) as they thought they may think better of it.
And of course the third thing, try not to be doing anything that goes against labor laws. Now some employees and their attorneys may try to come after you anyway even if you are doing everything by the book. But of course its always better to try to do your very best to follow the laws. Remember that ignorance of the law does not except you from following it. We have a ton of articles on this blog about almost every imaginable employee vs employer subject so take a look around if you have a question. You can always contact me for a free 15 minute consultation as well if you need a quick question answered.
Rule 2: Don’t Get Captured
Of course you cannot always avoid detection. Sometimes no matter how well you treat your employees and how much you have educated them on your company policies they can still bring you to the attention of the predators.
The predators are these employee side attorneys and they can be ruthless and relentless.
If your employee gets in contact with one (and attorneys often themselves seek out disgruntled employees) you could be in their hunting cross-hairs.
If you do have the misfortune of being detected by one of the predatory attorneys make sure to show them you are not the weak one in the herd.
You see they are looking for the easy meal (money). They want to find the business owner who is going to be paralyzed with fear. When a gazelle has been spotted by a predator, they spring and jump very high to showcase that they are well equipped to escape the hunter. Like the gazelle you want to show them that you are strong and not going to be an easy hunt. If they know its going to be a fight some will move onto easier cases.
So how do you show them your no pushover?
If an employees attorney demands records you do need to respond. You cannot just ignore it. But most employers are terrified when they receive these threatening letters demanding information and just start sending everything.
This is a big mistake! Sometimes the attorney does not actually have any great evidence against you and they are just fishing for what they can get. So they demand to see your employee handbooks, or employee files. They then comb through them looking for something they can use against you!
You may have just given the predator the very weapon they needed to bring you down! As I mentioned you do need to respond to their threat but you should be strategic about it. Have an employer defense attorney review the letter for you before reacting to it. I offer a free 15 minute consultation to any California employer and can tell you what to do. If you needed me to respond to the letter it would probably only be about an hours worth of work so very affordable and worth it to you.
Rule 3: Don’t Get Eaten
OK what if you do get noticed and you do get captured?
Well now you are in a fight for your survival! Most employers when attacked by employee side attorneys are terrified (and with good reason).
But this is not the time to roll on your back and expose your belly. Once you are in these predators grasp they are going for the kill and it could mean the end of your business.
That is why most attorneys who defend employers are so eager to settle for their clients. Their main goal is to minimize the damage. They figure if they can settle as quickly as possible with the employee side lawyers the number agreed upon can at least be an amount that the business can still survive.
I admit that with how one sided and unfair laws are for employers in this state, early on in my career I thought like this as well. Yes it makes sense. Settle early no matter what to save money in the long run. But after years in this game I’ve learned that some greedy employee side attorneys will just see this as a weakness and try to squeeze more money out of you and make more unreasonable demands.
It is always tough to negotiate the best outcome for yourself from a state of weakness. That is why we do not just automatically cave to employee side demands. In most cases we stand our ground. We find the right angle in the situation and fight back. Like an aggressive predator they are not expecting this and you can sometimes catch them off guard. You and your business might not be the easy meal they thought it would be.
Now of course with most of the cards stacked on the predatory employee attorneys side we cant always be super aggressive. This is especially true depending on the situation and if you have real potential liability in your case. But after years of focusing on just defending California employers we typically read these situations pretty well. In any case you need to be very careful, especially at the start.
Remember these employee side attorneys are not your friend. They are coming for your hard earned money. And in the jungle that is California employment law “only the strong survive”.
Hi I’m John Fagerholm, the founding partner of DefendMyBiz. My mission is to defend employers like you from California’s unfair labor laws.
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