At ES&A, we give employers and business owners straight talk and strategy about how to envision, strategize and actualize their business goals. We focus on the following areas.
Human Resources Management
- Advice on day-to-day management issues, including recruitment and hiring, background checks, compensation and benefits, leaves of absence, discipline and termination, documentation, recordkeeping
- Employee handbooks, HR policies and procedures
- Job descriptions
- Personnel forms
- Employment contracts, independent contractor agreements, consulting agreements
- Severance and settlement agreements
- HR audits and HR reviews
- Employment and verification requirements and visa issues
- Employment eligibility and Form I-9 compliance
Equal Employment Opportunity
- Policies, procedures and training on discrimination, harassment, reasonable accommodation, and retaliation issues
- Compliance issues under Title VII, ADEA, OWBPA, Rehabilitation Act, ADA and ADAAA, and state discrimination laws (including leaves and accommodations for pregnancy and childbirth)
- Employer investigations of discrimination, harassment, failure to accommodate and retaliation complaints
- Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs), and EEO-1 and Vets 100 filings
Labor Law
- Union organizing drives
- Collective bargaining negotiations (including strikes, lockouts, reserve gate and secondary boycott issues)
- Labor relations issues for government contractors and subcontractors
Wage and Hour Law
- Classification of exempt and nonexempt employees
- Classification of independent contractors
- Determination of joint employer status
- Calculation of wages under Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contracts Act, and Hawai`i Wage and Hour Law
- Payment of wages under federal and state law
Employee Benefits
- Leaves of absence programs (including, but not limited to, FMLA, Hawaii Family Leave Law, pregnancy leave, USERRA, disability leave, vacation, sick leave, PTO, domestic violence leaves, personal leave)
- Insured benefits (prepaid health care, workers’ compensation, unemployment, temporary disability, long term disability, group life, etc.)
- Self-insured benefits under state law (prepaid health care, workers’ compensation, temporary disability insurance)
- Medical plan issues under the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
- Summary plan descriptions for retirement plans, early retirement programs, severance pay plans, other employee welfare benefit plans
ERISA
- Compliance with reporting, disclosure and fiduciary obligations
- Advise trustees and plan administrators on Prohibited Transaction matters
- Prepare/amend Plan Documents for legal compliance, trustee objectives
- Prepare applications to IRS for recognition of tax-exempt status
- Coordinate with auditor and actuary/consultant on annual filings with governmental agencies and communications with participants
Safety and Health
- Safety, health and emergency programs, incl. OSHA/HIOSH compliance
- Substance abuse programs
- Workplace violence programs
- See also Pandemic Response legal services
Proprietary Rights
- Non-compete, confidentiality and work-for-hire agreements
Remote Working
- See also Technology and Cybersecurity legal services
Workplace Privacy
- See also Technology and Cybersecurity legal services
Organizational Development
- See also Business Strategy legal services
HR Systems
- See also Pandemic Response legal services
Pandemic Response Legal Services
- Pandemic Environment Operations
- State-of-emergency interim guidelines for essential HR issues, including leaves of absence, remote working, compensation and benefits, discipline and termination, documentation, recordkeeping, communication; employment verification requirements; visa issues
- Supplemental policies for: safety & health; employee travel; company events; office closure; remote working; privacy; harassment, discrimination & bullying; leave; insurance coverage
- Guidance on recalling employees as pandemic conditions evolve
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Discrimination, harassment, reasonable accommodation, and retaliation issues arising from pandemic conditions
- Wage and Hour Law
- Identify potential issues arising from pandemic conditions affecting exempt/nonexempt status
- Employee Benefits
- Pandemic emergency leaves of absence programs, including, but not limited to, Emergency FMLA and Emergency Paid Sick Leave
- Pandemic emergency requirements for medical plans under the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HIPAA, COBRA and ERISA
- Identify potential impact of pandemic conditions on eligibility for benefits (prepaid health care, temporary disability, retirement plans, etc.)
- Safety and Health
- Compliance with OSHA/HIOSH emergency guidance
- Screening procedures upon recall or return from leaves
- Safety procedures for vendors, customers and/or the public
- Remote Working
- See also Technology and Cybersecurity legal services
- HR Systems
- See also Technology and Cybersecurity legal services
Training
Selected topics listed below; customized training available upon request. Download our 1-sheet training overview.
- HR Basics
- Wage & Hour Laws
- Job Descriptions
- Critical Policies and Procedures
- Employee Handbooks
- Benefits
- Staffing
- Attendance and Timekeeping
- Recordkeeping
- Performance Standards
- Performance Evaluation
- EEO Compliance: Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation
- Reasonable Accommodations
- Leaves of Absences
- Joint Employer Status
- EEO-1 Component 1 Data Filing Requirements
- Investigations and Documentation: Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, Whistleblowers
- Counseling, Discipline & Discharge
- Substance Abuse Programs
- Pandemic Response
- Emergency Preparedness for HR
- The Law, HR and Data
- Remote Working
- Conducting Internal Investigations
- Litigation Checklist
- Supervisor/Management Training
- Basic Training for Supervisors
- Management Training for Senior/Mid-Level Managers
- EEO Compliance: Leadership, Culture, Accountability
- Cross-Cultural Training for Managers New to Hawaii