Industry Focus: Manufacturing

At Nilan Johnson Lewis, we understand that our manufacturing clients have unique labor and employment law concerns. We bring practical and creative solutions tailored to each client’s unique workplace and workforce. To effectively and comprehensively serve our manufacturing clients in areas that are of particular concern, we combine deep expertise in employment law  with strong capabilities in labor relations, business immigration, workplace safety, and drug and alcohol testing, all grounded in exceptional service.

NJL’s team has extensive experience providing comprehensive counseling and advice to sophisticated national employers, including major manufacturers. We find it particularly rewarding to partner with our clients to help them find defensible solutions to their human resources problems and to avoid litigation in the first place. National and local manufacturers frequently turn to NJL for trusted advice and creative strategies for reducing employment-related risks. We are committed to being responsive and providing clear, practical answers to even the trickiest of questions. While we work to resolve matters outside the courtroom, our group is always ready to litigate when necessary. We tailor our defense of both individual and class/collective claims to achieve success in ways that are consistent with our client’s values, reputation, and goals  In addition, the immigration team at NJL has year of experience representing companies in the manufacturing industry in their sponsorship of foreign workers.

Our expertise and experience geared toward manufacturing clients includes:

• Employment Law. Our bench strength and expertise enables us to counsel manufacturing clients throughout the employment cycle, from application to termination.  This includes issues relating to recruiting and hiring, affirmative action programs, employment agreements, employee handbooks, reasonable accommodations, FMLA and disability leaves, military leaves, performance management, wage-and-hour audits, coaching and discipline, and termination.
• Labor Relations. Whether clients already have a unionized workforce, or are seeking to remain union-free, NJL offers an experienced labor practice.  We routinely represent manufacturers in the areas of union avoidance, collective bargaining and contract negotiation, strikes and picketing, labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, and litigation with labor law implications.
• Workplace Safety. Our team understands the complicated patchwork of federal and state regulations governing safe workplaces, including laws governing transportation and commercial drivers.  We help manufacturing clients prepare compliant policies and practices, audit past practices, manage safety-related crises, and defend clients when litigation arises.
• Business Immigration. Our manufacturing clients often are challenged in finding local talent to fill their professional and production worker needs.  Our robust immigration group helps clients navigate complicated immigration laws to secure employment of foreign nationals with employment-based visas, including L-1 visas (for U.S. manufacturers with offices or plants in other countries seeking to transfer employees from their operations abroad to the U.S.) and TN visas (for U.S. manufacturers seeking to transfer Canadian or Mexican professionals in the scientific technician category under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (formerly NAFTA)). We also help clients obtain permanent residence status for foreign nationals, and provide guidance regarding I-9 compliance.
• Drug and Alcohol Testing. Our manufacturing clients need effective drug and alcohol testing policies to ensure workplace safety and legal compliance.  We help clients in drafting nationally-compliant drug and alcohol testing policies; counsel through complicated individual testing situations, including random testing and reasonable suspicion; and defend manufacturers in drug and alcohol testing litigation.