Barry Appell was trudging through construction litigation with small and mid-sized business clients in the mid 1990s when he decided he needed to do something else. His realizations pointed him toward employment law, where he found an endless variety of cases and people needing guidance through the maze of federal and state workplace rules and regulations. “I found it really interesting, it was more people-oriented work I really felt I was doing the right thing,” said Appell, a partner in the Sherman Oaks law firm of Appell Hilaire Bernardo LLP. Appell, who mostly represents individual employees, has seen an industry-wide boost in business over the last year, as recent changes in labor law such as the final ruling on the Family Medical Leave Act, which extends job protections to smaller companies of 25 employees , have taken effect and the economy’s continuing troubles have strained employer-employee relations. “Whenever there are changes in the law when the economy is bad, and you have employees getting laid off, many believe something is wrong,” said Appell. “It keeps those in employment law busy.” “Yes, ” said attorney Richard Rosenberg, a founding partner of Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, LLP in Universal City, “this will be a boon time for labor lawyers.” But, from his exclusively-business viewpoint, the emerging labor environment offers little solace for employers. “There’s going to be a lot of change, and it’s going to be even tougher,” said Rosenberg, who expects the Obama Administration will undo many long-standing policies that labor advocates felt gave unfair advantages to employers. The result, he continued, will bring about “the most historic change to the equilibrium” of workplace power, with the advantage shifting squarely to employees and organized labor. Rosenberg argues that under California law, which often imposes far stricter guidelines than those in federal law, his clients already face “the most regulated .burdensome” system, where “umpteen agencies” manage one or more aspects of the business-employee relationship. New or coming federal changes include an amendment to the Americans with Disability Act, which now defines disability in broader terms, and a reworking of the COBRA program, which provides employees continued medical coverage when they leave their jobs. Under the Obama Administration’s recently-passed economic stimulus package, employers will be required to pay for a portion of that coverage, whereas exiting employees were previously responsible for 100 percent of those costs. Then, the California Supreme Court is reviewing state rules that govern hourly-wage calculations and break times and could end up ruling within the year on whether or not employers must essentially force employees to take their allotted meal breaks. If the decision favors break enforcement, it would add another straw on the backs of companies already struggling just to “stay alive” through the downturn, Rosenberg said. Sue Bendavid, a business lawyer for Encino-based Lewitt, Hackman, Shapiro, Marshall & Harlan, says the meal break ruling in particular will have an enormous impact on employers, who could be penalized each time an employee fails to go on break. “That’s going to be a big issue,” she said. Bendavid agrees the current labor regulations favor employees and with “every year, it gets more complex. Every year there are more laws.” Of course, “part of my job is keeping abreast of all these laws,” she said, adding she most enjoys teaching her clients how to stay in compliance and avoid the legal fray. That ability by employers to self-correct and avoid compliance violations leaves Ronald Wilton hopeful about the atmosphere of today’s labor market, despite the current economic woes. Actually, said Wilton, founder of the Encino law firm Wilton & Associates, the government has scaled back several regulations that he felt would have been the “death knell” for many companies. He recalls past industrial welfare regulations that penalized companies if workplace signage didn’t meet certain specifications, but allowed little opportunity for self-correction after a violation was reported. Those regulations have since been modified to give violating employers additional chances to make things right instead of summarily being punished. “American employment law is evolving,” said Wilton, who has advised some of the country’s largest companies, but always reserved time to represent individuals and small business. Before, there were “far fewer avenues of support for a diligent employer to access,” said Wilton. “Now, there’s a whole sub-industry of support programs and companies” that help employers navigate through the regulatory process. “From a business standpoint, there’s much more support and information out there,” Wilton said. Appell understands the cynicism sported by so many employers, but he can’t help but remember labor relations are cyclical. “It’s a pendulum that constantly swings back and forth,” he said. Wilton acknowledges employees seem to wield more power than employers in today’s market, but “generally, I don’t see it as anything new.” “This,” said Wilton, “is just a continuation of the battle between employers and employees that has been going on.”
