Labor & Employment

We are one of the largest labor and employment law teams in Virginia and take a client-centric approach to working with HR directors, professionals, and in-house counsel. We work closely with public and private employers across Virginia and beyond. We make it our job to help businesses anticipate, prevent and resolve workplace claims, navigate the complex world of employment regulation and defend employers in court and before all applicable government agencies.

For almost 40 years, we have produced our annual Employment Law Update – which provides timely and practical advice to employers and was the first of its kind in Virginia. Our team members, several of whom are former Chairs of the Virginia Bar Association Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, have an array of experience, and are able to marshal expert consultants, including the former Area Director of the EEOC. Teaming with our Employee Benefits Group, we provide the full spectrum of legal needs for employers.

We are proactive in our approach and consistently seek solutions, seizing opportunities for effective management to help our clients achieve their goals. We provide practical legal tools to manage risk, find solid answers, and strive to avoid litigation. Our team is recognized for seeking and finding opportunities to help management avert a problem, craft a solution, or arm our clients with the most effective legal defense to minimize liability and avoid litigation. We keep our clients up-to-date with any legal and regulatory changes that may be coming.

Our clients look to us to develop policies, agreements, procedures, and game plans for everything from the day-to-day to the unusual. We navigate the complex world of employment regulation by providing the proper steps to anticipate, prevent, and resolve workplace claims. We use our experience in court and with regulating agencies to counsel and effectively represent employers. We also provide diversity and discrimination training and conduct seminars on diversity in the workplace. Our experienced team handles topics and issues including audits, litigation, training, counseling, contracts, and handbook development.

We view our primary job as providing practical advice to minimize risk, implement effective policies, and keep our clients out of court. When court or agency action is necessary, our strategy is to win at the earliest practicable stage. We are counselors who know how to craft litigation-avoidance advice. We are litigators who know the ins and outs of the legal system and can devise strategies for cost-effective and advantageous resolutions.

Another service we provide to our clients is a VOSH/OSHA audit, designed to avoid the potential risks associated with a Virginia Division of Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) or OHSA inspection. We also present webinars, breakfast briefings and publish a quarterly newsletter noting recent decisions, legislation and developing trends.

• Employment litigation in federal and state courts, as well as appellate representation at all levels of the court system
• Representation before federal administrative agencies, including the United States DOL and the EEOC and state agencies regulating wages, unemployment and workplace safety
• Employment practice and procedure audits, to identify issues before they become problems
• Wage-hour compliance
• Development and implementation of effective legal and practical personnel policies, employee handbooks and the like, arbitration, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution procedures
• Union avoidance and issues associated with labor management relations
  Negotiation, drafting, and enforcement of employee and executive contracts
• Federal and state discrimination advice and litigation, from the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to the newest forms of workplace harassment – and everything in between
• Restrictions on the activities of former employees, including prosecution and defense of claims involving covenants not to compete, business torts, trade secret litigation, and civil claims involving computer abuse
• Practical training for managers, supervisors and employees at all levels

• Credit Union
• Government Contracts & Defense Industries
• Infrastructure & Transportation

• K&C Client Alert – October 2024 – Corporate Transparency Act
• Employment Law Alert – Join Us at the 40th Annual ELU as Seminar Leader Burt Whitt Turns Over the Helm to Randy Sparks
• Employment Law Alert – FTC Noncompete Will Not Go into Effect on September 4
• Employment Law Update – Spring 2024
• 40th Annual Employment Law Update
• Update Those Severance Agreements
• Employment Law Alert – Employers, Get Ready for AI Risks
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2023
• Employment Law Update – FTC Looks to Ban Non-Competes, But Don’t Panic
• Employment Law Alert – Retaliation Risks on the Rise
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2022
• Employment Law Alert – Workplace COVID-19 Protocols Revoked
• Employment Law Alert – Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Harassment Now Outlawed
• Employment Law Alert – State Safety Board To Consider Whether To Continue COVID Work Rules
• Government Contracts & Defense Industries Team Client Alert – The Government Contractor Mandate
• Employment Law Alert – OSHA Issues Long-Awaited Rule Requiring Mandatory “Vaccinate or Test Weekly” Rule for Companies with 100 or More Employees
• Health Care Client Alert – The New Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Rule
• North Carolina Industrial Commission Penalty Assessment Orders: Common Civil and Criminal FAQs
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2021
• Employment Law Alert – The Delta Dilemma: Virginia Employers Ponder Next Steps to Keep the Workplace Safe
• Employment Law Alert – May 2021
• Employment Law Alert – April 2021
• Employment Law Alert – D.C. Clamps Down on Non-Compete Provisions and Practices
• Employment Law Alert – Virginia’s New Minimum Wage
• Employment Law Alert – February 2021
• 2021 Retirement Plan Limitations
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2020
• Employment Law Alert – July 30, 2020
• Employment Law Alert – July 14, 2020
• Employment Law Alert: Coping With COVID-19
• Employment Law Alert: New Unemployment Compensation Rules Due to Coronavirus
• Employment Law Alert – March 2020
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2020
• K&C’s Employment Law Alert – October 2019
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2019
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2019
• Employment Law Alert – April 2019
• Employment Law Alert – March 2019 – It’s Tax Time and that Means Scam Time
• Employment Law Alert – March 2019
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2019
• Employment Law Alert – October 31, 2018
• Employment Law Alert – October 2018
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2018
• Employment Law Alert – July 2018
• Employment Law Alert – June 2018
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2018
• Employment Law Alert – Spotlight on Workplace Bullying
• Employment Law Alert – Is Your Anti-Harassment Policy Ready to be Tested?
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2018
• Kaufman & Canoles Named to 2018 Edition of US News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2017
• 33rd Annual Employment Law Seminar – Hampton Showing
• Employment Law Alert – Trumpcare Faces Long and Winding Road
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2017
• Employment Law Alert – April 5, 2017
• Employment Law Update – New OSHA-VOSH Poster and Injury Reporting Rules
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2017
• Employment Law Alert – Increase to Exemption Salary Requirement Delayed
• Employment Law Alert – November 2016
• Employment Law Alert – October 2016
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2016
• Employment Law Alert – June 2016
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2016
• Employment Law Alert – May 2016
• 32nd Annual Employment Law Update – Hampton Showing
• Employment Law Update – Spring 2016
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2016
• Employment Law Alert – Employers Must Now Use New EEOC Charge System
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2015
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2015
• Kaufman & Canoles Named to 2015 Chambers USA
• Employment Law Update – Spring 2015
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2014
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2014
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2014
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2013
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2013
• Kaufman & Canoles Named to 2013 Chambers USA
• Self-Audit Mandate Documents
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2013
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2012
• Kaufman & Canoles Named to 2012 Chambers USA
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2012
• Kaufman & Canoles Offers VOSH and OSHA Audit as Service to Clients
• Employment Law Update Alert – April 2012
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2012
• Regulatory Update – October 2011
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2011
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2011
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2011
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2010
• Kaufman & Canoles Named to 2010 Chambers USA
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2010
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2010
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2009
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2009
• 10th Annual Top Ten Outrageous Employment Law Cases
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2009
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2008
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2008
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2008
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2007
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2007
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2007
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2006
• 7th Annual Top Ten Outrageous Employment Law Cases
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2006
• Supreme Court Ruling on Working Time Will Have Coast-to-Coast Impact
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2006
• 6th Annual Top Ten Outrageous Employment Law Cases
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2005
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2005
• Employment Law Update – Fall 2004
• Governor Calls Special Session To Restore “Day of Rest” Exceptions
• Richmond Judge Enjoins Changes to Virginia’s Day of Rest Laws – Chapter 508 of the 2004 Acts of Assembly
• Employment Law Update – Summer 2004
• Employment Law Update – Winter 2004