Catherine Walters

Catherine E. Walters provides exclusive management-side labor and employment services for employers of all sizes, including privately and publicly held companies, government contractors, institutions of higher education, health care providers, trade associations and other non-profit organizations.

Her practice spans an array of industries, including financial and banking, manufacturing, defense contracting, education, health care, professional services, insurance, construction, technology, retail, real estate, transportation, restaurant and hospitality.

Catherine’s extensive experience and collaborative skills enable her to partner with her clients to develop creative, practical, business-oriented solutions to their legal challenges.

She focuses on identifying current and emerging trends in order to provide clients with proactive legal advice aimed at managing and preventing emerging risks.

Her emphasis on strategic thinking and focused solutions enables her to provide employers with the sophisticated counsel that has become necessary in today’s complex business environment. Catherine regularly appears before federal and state courts and administrative agencies where she handles both employment and traditional labor matters.

Facets of Catherine's employment counseling practice include:

• Statutory compliance, risk mitigation and resolution of federal, state, and local agency claims, including but not limited to:
  • Wage and Hour laws:
    • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
    • Service Contract Act (SCA)
    • Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBA/DBRA)
    • Public Contracts Act (PCA)
    • Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA)
    • State Wage and Hour Laws
    • State Wage payment and collection laws
    • Defense of Department of Labor (DOL) and state audits and related litigation
  • Leave Laws:
    • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
    • Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
    • State disability and leave Laws
  • Discrimination laws:
    • Title VII and related civil rights statutes
    • Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
    • Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
    • Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
    • Immigration REform and Control Act (IRCA)
    • State and local discrimination laws
  • Affirmative Action Laws and Executive Orders:
    • Affirmative Action Plan development and implementation:
      • Executive Order 11246
      • Rehabilitation Act
      • Vietnam Era Veterans Reemployment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
      • State affirmative action requirements
    • Affirmative Action compliance audits
    • Defense of OFCCP and state enforcement actions
    • Federal and state contractor Executive Orders and related Laws
  • Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and state OSH laws:
    • Safety compliance and related issues
    • Defense of OSHA and state OSH audits and citaitons
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) compliance
  • Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state background check compliance
  • Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN) and State mini-WARN acts
• Recruiting, hiring, discipline and discharge issues
• Employment Agreements, including offers, hiring, nondisclosure and separation agreements
• Restrictive covenant agreements, including non-competition, non-solicitation, trade secret and intellectual property protection agreements, as well as Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) compliance
• Small, Minority, Women and Veteran-owned business counseling, including business structuring, certifications, recertifications, joint ventures, protests and related litigation
• Employment counseling for emerging businesses and entrepreneurs
• Employment issues relating to restructurings and reorganizations
• Reduction in workforce planning and implementation, including adverse impact analysis, preparation and maintenance of documentation, ADEA compliance, Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN) and State mini-WARN acts compliance
• Workplace investigations on behalf of employers or as a neutral third party
• Title IX investigations for institutions of higher education
• Employee handbook development and review
• Records maintenance and retention requirements
• Unemployment compensation matters, including hearings and audits
• Training and prevention services, including:
  • Harassment, discrimination, diversity and sensitivity training
  • FLSA and other wage/hour laws training
  • FMLA and other leave laws training
  • Affirmative action training
  • Employer-specific training
• Development and implementation of employer “Best Practices”
• Expert witness services
• Mediation services

Facets of Catherine’s management labor counseling practice include:

• working with federal and state labor laws, including both private and public sector labor laws
• development of labor strategy
• collective bargaining negotiations
• arbitrations
• unfair labor practices
• union organizing and other union activities

Catherine frequently lectures and writes on employment law issues for various continuing legal education, human resources and other organizations and she provides annual training for the “Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania” statewide program administered by the Central Penn Business Journal and Best Companies Group.

Professional Affiliations, Awards, Boards

• Memberships and Affiliations:
  • American Bar Association – ABA Advisory Panel
    • Section of Labor and Employment Law - Equal Employment Opportunity Committee and Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee
    • Sections of Administrative Law and Public Contract Law
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association - Labor and Employment Law Section
    • In-house Counsel Committee
    • Civil and Equal Rights Committee
    • Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
  • Dauphin County Bar Association
  • Mid-Penn Legal Services, pro bono legal services
  • Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
  • American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA)
• Honors and Awards:
  • Tribute to Women in Industry Award, presented by YWCA of Greater Harrisburg
  • Pennsylvania Legal Services “Striving Towards Excellence” Award, recognition of work demonstrating achievement and outstanding commitment to Equal Justice for the Poor
  • Selected for inclusion in the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list
  • National Multiple Sclerosis Society Leadership Award
• Boards and Other Activities:
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Corporate Leadership Advisory Council, 2014 to 2018
  • WITF, Inc. (public media/public broadcasting)
    • Board of Directors, 2009 to present
    • Chair of Government Relations Committee
    • Governance and Nominating Committee
  • The Penn State Dickinson School of Law, 2015 to present
    • Practitioner Instructor – “Problem Solving”
  • United Way of the Capital Region de Toqueville Society
  • Susquehanna Chorale, Board of Directors 2017 - present
  • Business Diversity Council (Harrisburg Regional Chamber) 2008 to 2012
  • Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors, 2004 – 2009
  • Capital Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC), Board of Directors, 1999-2004

Professional Presentations and Publications

• 2018 Employment and Labor Law Update With 2019 Forecast, Pennsylvania Bar Institute Business Lawyers Institute, Philadelphia, PA (November 7, 2018)
• #MeToo and You – How Employers Are Responding One Year Later, Pennsylvania Bar Institute Business Lawyers Institute, Philadelphia, PA (November 7, 2018)
• HIPAA Privacy Rule: Compliance Plans, Training, Internal Audits and Patient Rights, Widener University Delaware Law School and First Healthcare Compliance HIPAA Privacy and Security Summit, Wilmington, DE (November 8, 2018)
• 2018 Employment and Labor Law Update With 2019 Forecast, Central Penn Business Journal 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania Human Resources Conference, Lancaster, PA (November 14, 2018)
• #MeToo and You – How Employers Are Responding One Year Later, Central Penn Business Journal 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania Human Resources Conference, Lancaster, PA (November 14, 2018)
• Human Resources Best Practices, Bybel Rutledge LLP 2019 SEC Seminar & Human Resources Best Practices Program, Hershey, PA (November 15, 2018)