Understanding the legal role
What does an employment lawyer do?
An employment lawyer advises or represents people in disputes involving the workplace relationship. The lawyer may review an offer letter or employment contract, calculate and pursue unpaid compensation, assess discrimination or harassment, advise on medical leave or disability accommodation, respond to an investigation, negotiate severance, challenge retaliation or wrongful termination, prepare an agency complaint, handle a grievance-related issue, or represent a client in arbitration, tribunal or court proceedings.
Employment law is not one universal set of rules. A worker may be covered by federal, state, provincial, territorial, municipal, union, contract or sector-specific standards. An employee in a federally regulated Canadian workplace may use a different complaint route from a provincially regulated employee. A U.S. discrimination matter may involve an administrative charge process, while a wage issue may use a labor department, state agency, contract claim or court procedure.
The workplace story must be separated from the legal issue
A difficult manager is not automatically breaking the law. A dismissal is not automatically wrongful merely because it feels unfair. A workplace complaint may be legally protected, but the answer depends on what was reported, the governing law, what the employer knew and what action followed. An employment lawyer turns the workplace story into specific questions about status, pay, protected grounds, protected activity, contract terms, employer reasons and available procedures.
Some workplace problems also belong partly in another area. Work-injury benefits may require workers' compensation counsel. Immigration status may need an immigration lawyer. Equity compensation can involve tax and securities issues. A business owner, partner or genuine contractor may need contract or corporate advice rather than employee-rights analysis.