- Employment in the US is heavily regulated and differs from many other jurisdictions.
- Employment is generally at-will, meaning that employment may be terminated without notice. However, a number of laws provide certain protection and rights to employees, such as minimum wage and maximum hour rules, nondiscrimination in employment practices, health and safety requirements and unemployment compensation.
- Employees are classified as “exempt” or “non-exempt,” the most significant difference being payment for overtime work. The term “exempt” means exempt from having to be paid overtime.
- Non-compete provisions may be illegal in certain states and it is particularly important to protect trade secrets.
- It is common practice to conduct pre-employment background checks and to verify all employees’ right to work.
- Determine hiring policies; consider classification as exempt or nonexempt employees; consider any independent contractors.
- Employment documents should be compliant with local laws, including any employee agreements, handbooks and confidentiality agreements.
- US compliant Employment Agreements or Secondment Agreements for any transferred UK employees may be required.
- Any non-US employees who are transferred to the US will need work authorization such as a new office L1 or E visa.
- Consider what, if any, benefits to offer employees, such as vacation, sick pay, healthcare coverage or stock options. This may depend on state-specific laws (for example, California now has a mandatory sick pay policy).
If stock options will be offered, the UK plan documents should be reviewed regarding the issue of stock to non-UK persons and US plan documents prepared as appropriate.
