Work-related issues in Florida may involve a wide variety of legal issues. An individual who has a work-related legal issue may need an attorney consultation in order to identify the type of Florida lawyer they would need to handle their issue.
An individual who is looking for a lawyer wants to confirm that their lawyer is licensed to practice in Florida. They should have attended a law school approved by the American Bar Association. Then they would have passed the Florida Bar exam, submitted to a background check and an assessment of their character. They would then have to comply with the continuing legal education requirements of the Florida Bar, the state agency that licenses and regulates lawyers.
A person who is looking for a lawyer to represent them in connection with a work-related issue may always consult the Florida Bar to ensure that the lawyer is licensed in that state.
Florida workplace lawyers may advise employers and/or employees. They may advise employers about discrimination laws in Florida and how to avoid discrimination in their employment practices. They could help Florida employers draft employment contracts for key managerial employees and formulate good recruitment practices that comply with federal and Florida employment law.
Florida lawyers can also advise employees and former employees about their rights under the Florida labor code. If an individual has been fired, a Florida lawyer can analyze the firing and the individual’s work history to determine if they have cause to file a complaint against their former employer for wrongful termination or discrimination. They can guide them through the regulatory and legal bureaucracy, if they have a case.
They can also advise a prospective employee about an employment contract that their employer has presented to them for signing. A lawyer can draft an employment contract for an employee, making sure that its provisions are favorable to the employee and not the employer.
A Florida lawyer could negotiate with the employer to get the employee the best possible employment agreement. An employee may later need to consult a lawyer if their employer violates their contract.
Workers can be injured on the job. This may lead them to a worker’s compensation lawyer who can file a claim for worker’s compensation. The Florida Department of Financial Services, Workers’ Compensation Division offers workers injured on the job in Florida access to the help they need for medical treatment and compensation for lost wages.
What Types of Claims Do Workplace Attorneys Handle?
As noted above, a wide range of issues can come up in a workplace. Much depends on the nature of the work that is done there. If it is a construction site, compliance with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act might be an important issue in the workplace. Workers may need a lawyer who can assist them in filing complaints of violations with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and getting unsafe conditions corrected.
Workplace safety and health regulations are further reinforced by the Florida Occupational Safety and Health Act (FOSHA). As do OSHA regulations, these laws set health and safety standards that apply to both public and private employers in Florida.
In an office environment, the issues might be very different. Workplace lawsuits might involve employment laws in Florida that address such issues as workplace bullying in Florida or policies and procedures regarding annual reviews and what the grounds are for ending an employee’s employment.
How Can Workplace Lawyers Help Employers?
Again, the workplace issues that can arise for employers are numerous and varied. One of the main concerns of an employer would be complying with the many Florida and federal laws that apply in the workplace regarding discrimination, providing reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, formulating an effective and fair performance evaluation system, and managing disputes between co-workers.
Many employers employ a lawyer who is a member of their full-time staff. Their job is to handle the multitude of workplace issues that may come up for the employer. The legal status the business should have, whether that of a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship, would be an issue. Human resources policies and procedures would be an issue.
Whether the company should have employment contracts and, if so, with which employees, would be yet another issue. Many issues might depend on the nature of the business, whether it offers professional services of some type, e.g., engineering or accounting services, or is a manufacturing enterprise of some sort. An employer may need the help of lawyers for a wide variety of issues.
How Do Workplace Lawyers Help Employees?
Workplace lawyers can help employees for many of the same issues that employers have. As noted above, discrimination, performance reviews, and injuries sustained on the job are just a few of the many issues that can arise in an individual’s workplace. A lawyer can help a working person figure out how to settle work-related disputes, hopefully without the involvement of agencies and courts. This is one way in which workplace lawyers might be most useful.
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How Much Does a Workplace Lawyer Cost in Florida?
There are three basic fee structures that are used by lawyers. They are the contingency fee, the flat fee, and the hourly fee. A legal consultation in Florida with a Florida lawyer would give an individual more information about how much a lawyer will cost.
For most cases, labor lawyers are likely to charge an hourly fee. They charge by the hour for the time they spend working on a client’s case, e.g., $250 per hour. They keep detailed records of the time they spend on a case and the work they performed in that period of time. They then issue a monthly bill for the total fee owed for a month’s work.
In personal injury cases, lawyers usually charge a contingency fee. A wrongful termination case is an example of a personal injury case for which a lawyer would charge a contingency fee.
A contingency fee is a fee that represents a percentage of the amount of money the lawyer wins for the client in their case. If the lawyer succeeds in winning an award of money for their client, they are paid their percentage. If the lawyer is not successful and wins no award, then the lawyer is not paid anything.
A third common way of billing is the flat fee. In a flat fee arrangement, the lawyer specifies a total amount that the client has to pay the lawyer to achieve some legal goal. For example, a lawyer might offer to review an employment contract that a client has been offered by a prospective employer for a flat $2500.
Flat fees are usually charged in cases in which the lawyer can reliably predict how much time they would have to put into the case from beginning to end. Because they can predict this, they can tell the client the total cost, i.e., the flat fee, that the client must pay to handle the case to its end.
Florida lawyers might charge a flat or hourly fee for their services in connection with drafting or reviewing an employment contract. Lawyers in the largest cities, such as Miami Beach and Tampa Bay, and more affluent areas are likely to charge more than lawyers in small towns and rural areas. In an initial legal consultation, an individual looking for a lawyer should talk to the lawyer about how they would bill them for their services.
What Are Tips for Selecting a Workplace Attorney?
Generally, an individual wants to select an attorney who has experience in the area of law that is relevant to their legal issue. As we have seen, any number of different issues may come up in a person’s workplace, e.g., wrongful termination, bullying, discrimination, or a work-related injury. An attorney who has experience in one area of the relevant law, e.g., wrongful termination, may have very little experience in the law of another issue, e.g., work-related injury.
Again, an employee who has a workplace issue can go through all the usual channels for locating a lawyer for workplace issues, including using LegalMatch.com. They may need a legal consultation for help in identifying the type of lawyer they need. Once they know this, they may get a referral from other lawyers they know, or from family or friends, or from lawyer referral services, including LegalMatch.com.
They want to choose a lawyer in whom they have confidence and with whom they think they can work comfortably.
When Should I Hire an Attorney?
Whenever an individual has a legal issue, they should consult an attorney. After consultation, they would be able to decide if they need to hire an attorney to represent them in connection with the issue. There are a number of reasons for acting promptly to at least consult an attorney.
For one thing, there can be time limits for filing complaints with various Florida and federal agencies that deal with workplace issues, e.g., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Then there are deadlines for filing lawsuits in civil courts of law, i.e., statutes of limitations. So it is important not to delay in talking to a lawyer. And through LegalMatch.com, an individual can get no-cost initial advice that can help them decide if they need to hire a lawyer.
Do I Need a Lawyer for Help With Workplace Disputes?
Many workplace issues can lead an individual to need a consultation with a workplace lawyer in Florida to deal with a workplace issue. LegalMatch.com can get you a lawyer’s advice and guidance quickly and at a low cost. If you have a workplace issue, you want to check in with a qualified lawyer to see how they can help you get the resolution you need.
