NH Municipal & School Labor & Employment Law

A bedrock of Upton & Hatfield has long been its labor and employment services. Personnel and labor issues are increasingly important to municipalities, and our labor relations team is well equipped to assist our municipal clients through all stages of the labor negotiation process, including collective bargaining. Questions surrounding statutory bargaining procedures, negotiated CBA terms, and managerial prerogatives can be complicated subjects. Our labor relations attorneys are well versed in this area of the law and have represented municipalities and school districts in all areas of public labor law, including collective bargaining, labor grievances, arbitration hearings, unfair labor practices, mediation, fact-finding, and union elections and certifications. Although our goal is to work with our municipalities and their staff to prevent grievances and unfair labor practice complaints whenever possible, if needed, our labor relations team is prepared to assist our municipal clients with the grievance process and/or litigate disputes through the appropriate channels. We regularly appear before the Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), the Department of Labor, the Commission for Human Rights, the EEOC, and in state and federal courts.

Outside of the labor relations context, our attorneys are experienced in providing human resources management including:

• Discipline and discharge
• Human Resource counseling related to employee hiring, compensation, evaluations, and documentation
• Compliance with federal and state wage & hour, leave of absence, and anti-discrimination laws such as the FLSA, FMLA, ADA, ADEA, USERRA, the New Hampshire Law Against Discrimination, and the New Hampshire Whistleblowers’ Protection Act
• Investigation of complaints of unlawful harassment, discrimination and other workplace misconduct
• Personnel policies and handbooks
• Trainings and workshops in all aspects of state and federal employment law