1914 — Henry Ford declares that he will pay eligible factory workers five dollars for an eight-hour day. This innovative plan creates a loyal, hardworking, efficient workforce that shuns union organizing efforts. Ford employees also become Ford customers, and company profits double in three years.
Henry Ford had a vision and acted on it. He did not have to contend with the myriad employment laws today’s employers face. Bodman attorneys partner with employers to ensure they are in compliance with the law while pursuing their vision.
Our philosophy is to prevent and resolve employment disputes by counseling management and human resource professionals on day-to-day employment issues, including:
In instances when preventive action is not effective, we partner with employers and in-house counsel to defend against lawsuits and administrative actions before state and federal trial and appellate courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor and other administrative agencies, and in arbitrations, mediations and facilitations, in actions asserting:
We know that well-informed employers can prevent or resolve employment disputes before embarking on costly litigation. To keep our clients up-to-date, we publish a quarterly newsletter, distribute “Executive Alerts” by e-mail on breaking employment issues and offer periodic seminars on employment law topics. We also provide custom, on-site employment law training.
We helped one of the nation’s largest banks with a significant workforce reduction, including analysis of information provided by a statistical consultant, related to its acquisition of a competitor outside of Michigan. There have been no employee lawsuits as a result.
Our attorneys assisted a major Tier 1 auto supplier in implementing a workforce reduction of more than 1,000 employees. We prepared the separation plan documents, separation agreement and release of claims. In the one lawsuit that resulted from the reductions, we obtained dismissal of the employee’s claims of gender and age discrimination and retaliation on summary judgement.
A national restaurant chain relied on us to appeal a lower court ruling that the employer’s pre-employment arbitration agreement was unenforceable. We obtained reversal of the lower court ruling.
We consulted with a significant machine tool manufacturer targeted by a union to organize its workers. The union recognition vote was soundly defeated.
Clients have asked us to conduct wage and hour projects, including classification of positions as exempt or nonexempt for overtime purposes. These projects typically involve sensitive situations where employees have been miscategorized as exempt, with possible back pay obligations. To date we have resolved these situations without wage claims or litigation.