Happy Holidays!

Boy, have we ever been busy here at the Downyok Law Firm!  It's a lot of work, but we needed to take a moment to thank everyone for choosing us as their law firm for their labor and employment law needs!

Looking ahead to 2013, we are excited about some firm news coming soon, as well as about our work.

Whether you're just stopping by, a new client, or you've been with us for years, thank you so much, it has been and will continue to be our pleasure to serve you!

Happy holidays, from everyone here at the firm.

Organize on Borrowed Time?

Some economists describe a "free good" as something that is so common, it's practically free.  Most of us would hardly think twice about taking a paper clip home from work, or a staple, because there are just so many, their value is hard to even quantify.  A box of 25,000 staples might cost $5, so an individual staple costs less than 1/1000 of a cent.  Practically speaking, you couldn't pay your employer for that staple if you wanted to!  Sometimes it seems like such is also the case with time...

10, 20, Life, Interrupted...Part II

Last time we looked at some of the foundations and history of 10-20-Life.  Today, let's finally get to where 10, 20, Life actually comes into play, and why even with longer sentences it's just way more complicated than just 10, 20, Life.

Reporting The Employer (Part II of II)

We hope you had a great Easter!

You may recall a while back we discussed how to report an employer engaged in discriminatory practices.  Here we will pick up where we left off, and discuss unpaid wages and overtime.  Click on to read all about it!

10, 20, Life, Interrupted...Part I

Back in the late 90's, gun crime was a pretty big problem in Florida.  Consequently, in July of 1999 the legislature passed the so-called 10-20-Life law, and as a result, the state was covered in red and black pamphlets.

The purpose of these posters was to discourage violent gun crime by proclaiming that pulling a gun means you have to do 10 years in prison, and it just gets worse from there.

Certainly, we feel a little safer now that the law has passed, but it's important to note that like many laws, it's just not as simple as 10-20-Life, and in this blog we'll look a little more closely at what it really is all about.

Legally Protected

At the Downyok Law Firm, Helena is often asked, "is that legal?" Some variant of the question is practically the bread and butter of any legal professional. Experienced attorneys will tell you, however, that whether or not something is legal is often besides the point.

It's easy for us to assume that as good members of society everybody must follow the rules. It is within human nature to try to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt. Of course, over time we come to realize with experience that often people break the rules, even well meaning, good people.

We would certainly all like to believe that our employers know all about employment law rules and regulations, or from the employer's perspective that complying with the law just means being a decent, reasonable person, and sometimes it's that assumption that prevents us from seeking legal counsel; my boss is a good person, my company is a good, honest company, I'm a good boss, how could they do me wrong, how could I do my employees wrong?

Reporting the Employer (Part I of II)

I am often asked how you report an employer for unlawful conduct.  The answer depends on what kind of activity is being reported.

If you suspect your employer is engaged in criminal activity, you should report it to law enforcement immediately.

Other than that, there are a number of agencies one can report an employer to, depending on the employer’s conduct.  While an employer may choose to commit an array of unlawful practices, we will address two of the most common types of unlawful practices at this time.

1.  Discrimination, based on

• Age
• Disability
• Equal Pay
• Genetic Information
• National Origin
• Pregnancy
• Race
• Color
• Religion
• Retaliation
• Sex and Sexual Harassment

2.  Unpaid wages and overtime.

Without WARNing

It's been a tough few years here in the United States.  Whether you call it "The Great Recession" or just plain hard times, there's no denying that the American economy is suffering.

As an unfortunate consequence of these difficult economic conditions, many employers are being forced to terminate large numbers of employees.  However, even in these times there are protections for hard working Americans, and among those protections are laws like the WARN Act.