Employment Issues for the Solo and Small Firm Practitioner

• Publication year: 2000
• Pages: 41
• Citation: Vol. 29 No. 10 Pg. 41

29 Colo.Law. 41 Colorado Lawyer 2000.

2000, October, Pg. 41. Employment Issues for the Solo and Small Firm Practitioner

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41

Vol. 29, No. 10, Pg. 41

The Colorado Lawyer
October 2000
Vol. 29, No. 10 [Page 41]

Hot Topics In Employment Law

Employment Issues for the Solo and Small Firm Practitioner
by Howard Jenkins

The practice of law has an administrative component that includes personnel policies, salary administration, fringe benefits, and employment-related taxes. The failure to manage these functions properly can result in the imposition of fines and penalties. Moreover, the lack of clear and understandable personnel policies can inhibit an attorney’s ability to hire and retain high quality employees. This article provides a brief overview of the employment-related issues that small business owners must address to conform with applicable laws.1

Personnel Policies And Salaries

Once an attorney has determined there is a need to hire employees, written personnel policies should be adopted Personnel policies should be reviewed by an employment attorney to determine enforceability, compliance with federal and state employment laws, and to ensure that they do not unduly increase the attorney’s own liability Employees should be asked to acknowledge that they have received a copy of the personnel policies, and read and understood them. This acknowledgment should be in the form of a written statement signed by the employee soon after the commencement of employment

To attract and hire qualified employees, practitioners will have to offer competitive salaries. Salaries vary from one area in the state to another, so it is important to determine the relevant wage rates for the geographic area in which the firm is located. To hire employees at less than the prevailing salary rate is not advisable because any savings obtained by paying below market wages is likely to be offset by reduced productivity and higher employee turnover.

Attorneys must inform their employees about the length of the work day and work week. All employees, except attorney-employees and certain supervisory staff, should be considered non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay after forty hours of work in a calendar week. It is important to establish clear policies for paid and unpaid vacation time, holidays, personal/sick leave, emergencies, family illnesses, and jury duty. Employees want to know the rules for compensation and time off from work.

Fringe Benefits

To be competitive in today’s labor market, employers must provide fringe benefits. Fringe benefits that law firms should consider offering include the following: health, dental, life, and long-term disability insurance; a retirement plan; a flexible spending account plan; and paid time for holidays, vacations, and personal/sick leave. Determining who should pay for firm-sponsored fringe benefits is an important question. Overall firm expenses need to be considered, but employers also should keep in mind that fringe benefits are significant factors when current and potential employees evaluate employment opportunities.

One way to reduce employee costs for fringe benefits is to provide employees with flexible spending accounts. Flexible spending accounts are pre-tax deductions from an employee’s gross pay that can be used to pay for medical and dental insurance premiums, medical expenses not covered by a health plan, and child care expenses.

Data regarding the fringe benefits offered by approximately 100 Denver area law firms were reported in the 1999 Salary and Benefits Survey published by the Mile High Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators ("ALA"). The following fringe benefits were listed by firms participating in the survey:

Benefit
Provided Percentage
of Firms

Health insurance 100

Dental insurance 77

Group term life insurance 87

Long-term disability insurance 77

Paid vacation 80

Paid personal/sick leave 74

Fringe benefits generally provided by law firms are discussed below.

Insurance Benefits

Howard Jenkins, Denver, is Director of Administration at the law firm of Wheeler Trigg & Kennedy P.C.

Finding affordable health insurance can be a difficult challenge for the sole practitioner or small firm, but options are available. The Colorado Office of Economic Development’s report, entitled Health Insurance Options for Small Business Owners ("Health...