OUR PRACTICES
Labor & Employment Counsel for California Employers
Cook Brown LLP provides comprehensive labor and employment counsel to employers navigating California’s complex workplace laws. From proactive guidance and day-to-day workplace issues to high-stakes disputes and litigation, the firm’s attorneys help clients understand their options, manage risk, and move forward with confidence.
EXPLORE OUR PRACTICES
Comprehensive Counsel. Focused Experience.
Workplace disputes can create significant legal, financial, and operational challenges. Cook Brown represents employers in employment-related litigation involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, wage and hour claims, and other workplace disputes.
From early case assessment through motions, trial, and resolution, the firm’s attorneys develop strategies based on each client’s objectives and the circumstances of the case.
Managing the relationship between employers, employees, and labor organizations requires both legal knowledge and practical experience.
Cook Brown advises employers on union organizing, collective bargaining, labor disputes, grievance and arbitration proceedings, and other labor-management matters. The firm works with employers to navigate both day-to-day labor relations and significant organizational challenges.
California’s wage and hour laws create some of the most complex compliance challenges employers face.
Cook Brown advises employers on compensation practices, overtime, meal and rest periods, wage statements, employee classification, final pay, and other wage and hour requirements. The firm also represents employers when wage-related disputes develop into individual, representative, or class claims.
Employers performing public works and other covered projects face an additional layer of wage, reporting, and compliance requirements.
Cook Brown assists employers with California prevailing wage matters, helping clients understand their obligations, address potential compliance concerns, and respond to disputes or enforcement actions.
Strong workplace policies provide employers with a foundation for consistent decision-making and legal compliance.
Cook Brown helps employers develop, review, and update employee handbooks, workplace policies, procedures, and employment practices to reflect changing legal requirements and the practical needs of the organization.
Workplace complaints involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, misconduct, and other sensitive issues require a careful and objective response.
Cook Brown conducts and advises on workplace investigations designed to help employers understand the facts, address concerns appropriately, and make informed decisions about what comes next.
Cook Brown’s experience extends beyond traditional employment matters to disputes affecting contractors and businesses operating within the construction industry.
The firm represents clients in construction-related litigation and disputes, bringing a practical understanding of both the legal issues involved and the business environment in which contractors operate.
EMPLOYER RESOURCES
Stay Ahead of a Changing Workplace
California labor and employment law continues to evolve. Cook Brown provides timely legal updates and practical analysis to help employers understand new legislation, court decisions, regulatory developments, and other issues affecting the workplace.
By January 1, 2027, certain businesses that use automated decision-making technology to make employment decisions must comply with new California Privacy Protection Agency regulations. The regulations generally apply to large employers — those with annual revenue in excess of $25
Now that 2026 is well under way, employers may want to assess their compliance with one of this year’s more nuanced new laws – AB 692 – governing employee debts. AB 692 was enacted to prohibit employers from forcing employees
California courts continue to interpret whistleblower protections broadly and extend this protection to employees even when they are wrong about the law or an alleged violation. In a recent decision, a California Court of Appeal held that an employee may
Pay equity and pay transparency continue to be legislative priorities in California. Over the past several years, the Legislature has repeatedly expanded California’s Equal Pay Act (Lab. Code §§ 1197.5, 432.3) and imposed increasingly detailed pay data reporting requirements on
The 2025 federal budget law “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) created two temporary federal income tax deductions that rely on employer information reporting: (i) a deduction for qualified tips (IRC §224) and (ii) a deduction for qualified overtime compensation
The California Legislature recently passed the “Workplace Know Your Rights Act (“Act”).” The Act requires employers to provide an annual workplace rights notice to employees focused on protection against immigration-related practices. While this new notice requirement contained in the Act