Protecting The Interests Of Businesses In North Carolina
Furniture Brands International, Inc., once one of the world’s largest furniture manufacturers (and owner of North Carolina brands like Thomasville Furniture, Broyhill and Hickory Chair), filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in September, 2013. As a part of the bankruptcy process, the US Bankruptcy Court appoints a trustee to oversee the operations or wind-down of the bankrupt company. The trustee has…
Many clients are already familiar with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements that nonexempt employees be paid overtime at the rate of one-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for every hour over 40 the employee works during a workweek. As a result of new proposed regulations from the US Department of Labor, however, who can be classified as an…
By all accounts, North Carolina has largely emerged from the Great Recession. In fact, according to the NC Department of Commerce, as of February, 2015, North Carolina’s unemployment rate had dropped to 5.3%–one of the lowest rates since the Great Recession began in 2008. As hiring improves, however, many clients are increasingly concerned with protecting their investment in their businesses,…
Welcome to the new and improved website of Richard L. Robertson and Associates: www.www.www.rlrobertson.com! The new website provides businesses, business owners, and insurance companies in the Charlotte area with information concerning a wide range of important legal topics and industry related issues. In addition to a comprehensive outline of the legal services offered by the firm, the new website also…
One of the most important issues facing our small and medium-size business clients is compliance with the myriad of state and federal immigration laws. In fact, many of our business clients, despite their intentions and their best efforts to be compliant with the regulations administered by the United States Department of Labor, the United States Department of Homeland Security and…
For most small and medium-size businesses, it’s a common-sense practice to ask potential employees, generally on the employment application, about criminal arrests and convictions. But recent guidance and litigation from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggests that a blanket prohibition on hiring anyone who has a criminal arrest or conviction is discriminatory, and may open the employer up…
Despite their best efforts, for many of our business clients, it sometimes becomes necessary to terminate an individual’s employment. Losing a job is always a difficult proposition and in almost every case, the separated individual will immediately file a claim for his or her unemployment benefits with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Security (DES). In many…
Most of our clients are keenly interested in protecting themselves against claims of harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Title VII protects employees against discrimination in the workplace on the basis of their race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy) and religion. Claims brought under Title VII are some of the most frequently investigated and…
Richard L. Robertson, the principal and shareholder of Richard L. Robertson and Associates, P.A. has been appointed to the BB&T Bank Board of Advisers for the Charlotte-market. The Board of Advisers meets quarterly for the purposes of receiving information about BB&T Bank’s operations and working with the bank on issues important to our business and individual clients. Mr. Robertson’s involvement…
Our firm was founded in 1996 with a mission in mind to render valuable services to our clients. An important step to achieve this mission was to establish a low cost operating model. Over the years we have consistently taken steps to maintain a low cost culture in our firm. Among other things, this has included locating to a suburban…