Employment Counsel
Employment law is where a growing company's everyday decisions carry the most legal risk, and the rules change often. As outside general counsel, we handle the recurring employment questions, offers, handbooks, accommodations, discipline, and departures, so the company makes the right call in the moment and stays out of court.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
4
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Employment attorneys for Bellevue and Seattle employers
Oseran Hahn serves as employment counsel for Washington employers, handling the steady flow of personnel questions a company faces: hiring and offer letters, equity grants, handbooks, wage-and-hour compliance, accommodations, discipline, and departures. Washington's employment laws are among the most employee-protective in the country and change frequently, so the value of standing counsel is getting the right answer before the company acts. We advise employer-side and preventively; when a matter becomes a lawsuit, the firm's employment-litigation group takes it.
Employment work is a set of recurring decisions, each carrying more legal risk than it looks, and the law shifts under them every legislative session. We handle hiring, offers, and the agreements that come with them; we draft the handbooks and policies that keep a company compliant; we answer the everyday accommodation, leave, and discipline questions; we manage departures and separations cleanly; and we keep the company out of litigation by getting these right the first time.
Hiring, offers, and agreements
The employment relationship is shaped at the start, so we handle the documents that set it up: offer letters, employment agreements, equity and incentive grants, and the confidentiality and invention-assignment terms that protect the company, within Washington's limits on assigning an employee's own-time inventions (RCW 49.44.140). Non-competes are tightly restricted in Washington and enforceable only above an annually adjusted income threshold and within strict limits (RCW 49.62), so we draft restrictions that will actually hold. We also get worker classification right, because treating an employee as a contractor is a costly mistake.
Handbooks, policies, and compliance
A current employee handbook is a company's first line of defense, and in Washington it has to keep up with a long list of statutes. We draft and update handbooks and policies covering wage and hour under the Minimum Wage Act (RCW 49.46), final-pay rules (RCW 49.48), the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (RCW 49.58), paid sick leave, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and anti-harassment and anti-discrimination obligations under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (RCW 49.60) and federal law. The point is a handbook the company actually follows, because an unfollowed policy is worse than none.
The everyday HR questions
Most employment counsel is answering the question that comes up on a Tuesday: an accommodation request, an FMLA or state-leave question, a performance problem, a difficult discipline decision, a complaint that needs looking into. Washington's disability-accommodation duty under the WLAD is broader than the federal ADA and carries no damages cap (RCW 49.60), which raises the stakes on getting accommodations right. We are the call a manager makes before acting, so the decision is documented and defensible rather than reconstructed later under oath.
Departures and separations
Exits create more employment claims than any other moment, so we handle them deliberately. We advise on terminations and the timing of final pay, which Washington enforces strictly with double-damages exposure for willful withholding (RCW 49.48; RCW 49.52.050 and .070), structure layoffs and reductions in force including any WARN Act notice, and draft severance and release agreements that actually release the claims they are meant to. We also protect the company's trade secrets and enforce non-solicitation terms on the way out, so a departing employee does not leave with the customer list.
Staying out of litigation
The cheapest employment case is the one that never gets filed, and preventive counsel is most of what we do. We run or guide workplace investigations, document decisions while they are being made, and flag the situations that are heading toward a claim so the company can correct course. Because Washington's WLAD has no cap on damages and wage violations carry fee-shifting and double damages, the math strongly favors getting it right up front. When a claim is filed anyway, the firm's employment-litigation group already knows the company and the file.
Decades advising Pacific Northwest employers through Washington's shifting employment laws, with attorneys who answer the everyday question and the firm's litigation group ready when one becomes a claim. We keep the company compliant and out of court.
We're the call before you act.
Most employment risk is created in the moment a manager decides without advice. We're the quick call that makes the decision documented and defensible, before it becomes a complaint.
We track the law so you don't have to.
Washington changes its employment statutes almost every session. We keep handbooks and practices current, so the company isn't operating on rules that changed two years ago.
Litigation muscle behind the advice.
When a claim is filed, the firm's employment-litigation group takes it, already knowing the company. The preventive work and the courtroom work are under one roof.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
Can you review our employee handbook?
Yes, and most companies need it more often than they think. Washington adds or changes employment requirements almost every legislative session, covering leave, pay transparency, sick time, and more, so a handbook more than a year or two old is usually out of date. We update it to current law and, just as important, make sure your actual practices match what it says.
Are non-compete agreements even enforceable in Washington?
Only within strict limits. Washington enforces non-competes only above an annually adjusted income threshold and under tight conditions, and overbroad ones are void (RCW 49.62). Confidentiality and non-solicitation terms have more room. We draft restrictions that fit what Washington actually allows, so you're relying on something enforceable rather than a clause a court will throw out.
An employee asked for an accommodation. What do we do?
Engage the interactive process and document it. Washington's disability-accommodation duty under the WLAD is broader than federal law and carries no damages cap (RCW 49.60), so this is a high-stakes area to get right. We help you evaluate the request, identify a reasonable accommodation, and document the analysis, rather than denying it on instinct and inviting a claim.
How careful do we need to be about final paychecks?
Very. Washington enforces wage and final-pay rules strictly, and willful withholding of wages can expose the company to double damages plus attorney fees (RCW 49.48; RCW 49.52.050 and .070). Timing and classification mistakes are among the most common and expensive employment errors. We make sure final pay, overtime, and classification are handled correctly.
What happens if an employee sues or files a complaint?
We respond, and the firm's employment-litigation group handles it, already familiar with the company because we've been the standing counsel. Many claims start as an agency charge with the EEOC or the Washington State Human Rights Commission, and a careful early response often resolves them. The documentation from our preventive work is usually the strongest defense.
When should we bring in employment counsel?
Before a termination or layoff, when an accommodation or leave request comes in, before rolling out a new policy or non-compete, and the moment a complaint surfaces. Employment claims are expensive in Washington, and a short call before acting is far cheaper than defending a decision made without advice.
Recentarticles.
Hiring, handbooks, accommodations, wage compliance, departures, and preventive employment counsel for Washington employers.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.