Compliance and preventive audits in California
Since we work only with employers, our California compliance and preventive audit attorneys are your defensive shield against policy gaps, training failures, and post-incident missteps that turn manageable situations into lawsuits.
Compliance Services We Handle for California Employers
As California employer defense attorneys, we handle the preventive and post-incident work that reduces exposure across three focused service lines:
We audit your handbook, arbitration agreements, offer letters, and workplace violence plan against current California law, then rewrite what needs to be rewritten.
Attorney-led SB 1343, AB 1825, and SB 553 training built to satisfy the statute and hold up as evidence if a claim is ever filed.
Attorney-led investigations, litigation hold, and SB 331-compliant separation agreements when a complaint, charge, or high-risk termination is on the table.
Our Defense Processs
How We Handle Compliance and Preventive Audits in California
The moment you decide to get ahead of your compliance risk, or the moment an incident lands, our compliance attorneys move fast. Here's what that looks like.
Scope the Risk
We review your industry, headcount, claim history, and current policies to identify where your real exposure sits, not a generic checklist.
Audit Against Current California Law
We map your handbook, agreements, and training records against the current Labor Code, Government Code, and Cal/OSHA standards, including recent changes.
Prioritize by Real Exposure
You get a written report with issues ranked by dollar risk. Critical, elevated, housekeeping. You know exactly what to fix first.
Fix, Train, or Investigate
Where policies need rewriting, we rewrite them. Where training is needed, we deliver it. Where an incident has occurred, we open the investigation under privilege.
Build the Ongoing Record
We set a review cadence for handbook updates and training refreshes so the next claim starts from a strong baseline instead of scratch.
Why California Employers Choose Our Compliance Attorneys
common questions
Compliance and Preventive Audits: Common Questions from California Employers
Our handbook is a few years old, and honestly, nobody has looked at it since. Is that really a problem?
In California, yes. Handbooks written before 2024 usually predate SB 553 (workplace violence), AB 1076 (non-compete notice), and pay transparency changes. Some of the language is unenforceable now, and some of it is actively creating exposure. We do a full review and flag exactly what needs to change.
An employee just made an internal harassment complaint. Do we really need an outside investigation, or can HR handle this?
It depends on who the complaint is about and how serious the allegations are. HR-led investigation notes are generally discoverable, and the investigator can end up as a witness in the eventual case. When the complaint involves a senior person or facts that could support a FEHA claim, an attorney-led investigation structured under privilege is usually the safer path.
Our managers have never had formal harassment training. How big of a liability is that?
Significant. SB 1343 and AB 1825 require harassment prevention training every two years for employers of five or more. Beyond the legal requirement, §12940(k) allows employees to win on inadequate training and prevention measures even when harassment itself cannot be proven. Documented training is what supports the affirmative defense.
Someone told us our arbitration agreement might not even be enforceable. Is that really a risk?
Yes. Post-Armendariz arbitration agreements require five specific factors. A single missing factor can void the entire agreement, which means every dispute you thought was headed to arbitration ends up in public court. Older templates often miss at least one.
We are about to terminate a manager who recently made a complaint. How risky is that?
High. Post-complaint terminations are one of the fastest ways to convert a manageable situation into a retaliation claim. We audit the personnel file, evaluate the timing, and review the separation agreement for SB 331 and Civil Code §1542 compliance before anyone is told.
How much does a compliance audit actually cost?
Scope depends on headcount and how many documents are in play. A focused handbook and arbitration review usually wraps in two to three weeks. We give you a flat fee before we start, so there are no surprises.
How can a California compliance and preventive audit attorney help my business?
Our California compliance attorneys reduce the surface area a plaintiff's attorney can attack. We rewrite outdated handbooks, tighten arbitration and separation agreements, train your managers on the behaviors that actually get employers sued, and run post-incident investigations structured to protect the business if the matter escalates. Preventive work is almost always less expensive than defense work.
Get Ahead of the Next Claim Now
Every California employer has policy gaps. The question is whether you fix them on your timeline, or a plaintiff's attorney finds them on theirs. Talk to our California compliance attorneys, we will review where your business is most exposed, explain what needs to change, and lay out a plan to protect the business you've built.