Employment Compliance Audit
Employment law for nonprofits is its own discipline. Most compliance problems show up during a termination, a grant audit, or an agency complaint, not before. The Employment Compliance Audit gives your leadership team a clear picture of your exposure before that happens.
A structured, flat-fee legal review that tells nonprofit executive directors and boards exactly where their employment practices create risk, and what to do about it.
THE PROBLEM
Many nonprofits carry employment law exposure they are unaware of. Misclassified workers, outdated handbooks, incomplete I-9 records, and leave policies that don't comply with state law, these are common issues, and they tend to surface at the worst possible time: during a termination, a grant audit, or a complaint filed with a state agency.
A single employment claim — even one that's successfully defended — can cost more in legal fees and management time than a compliance review would have. The audit exists to give your leadership team a clear picture before that happens.
WHAT WE REVIEW
Federal law
FLSA classification and overtime
Anti-discrimination (Title VII, ADA, ADEA)
FMLA leave obligations
OSHA recordkeeping
ERISA plan compliance
I-9 and employment eligibility
NLRA protected activity
State and local law
Paid leave requirements
Salary history and pay transparency
Non-compete enforceability
State anti-discrimination law
Local wage and hour rules
Nonprofit-specific exposure
Volunteer and intern classification
Stipend and fellow arrangements
Grant-funded position compliance
At-will doctrine application
Board member liability exposure
Multi-state payroll obligations
JURISDICTIONS COVERED
We practice in four jurisdictions and know the specific compliance requirements in each.
Connecticut Washington, D.C. Massachusetts New York
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Written risk report with a red/yellow/green matrix of findings, organized by severity and likelihood of exposure.
Prioritized action items — what needs attention immediately, what can wait, and what you're doing right both at your leadership team knows exactly what to address and in what order.
Jurisdiction-specific memo — a detailed memo on the state and local requirements in each jurisdiction where you operate, including paid leave, pay transparency, non-compete law, and anti-discrimination obligations specific to where your people work.
30-Minute debrief call to walk through findings, answer your leadership team’s questions, and discuss next steps.
PRICING
STARTER
Up to 5 employees, single jurisdiction
$2,000
STANDARD
6–20 employees, up to 2 jurisdictions
$3,500
COMPREHENSIVE
21–50 employees, multi-state
$5,000
Add-ons
Additional jurisdiction: +$500 per state
Employee handbook remediation: +$750–$1,500, quoted after audit
Managing a larger or more complex organization? Reach out, and we’ll talk scope.
WHY COMMONLIGHT
Employment law for nonprofits sits at the intersection of two distinct bodies of law — and most attorneys practice one or the other. The classification questions, the grant-funded arrangements, the volunteer and intern issues, the board-level exposure — none of this maps cleanly onto private sector employment practice, and it doesn't map onto general nonprofit law either.
Alex Booker has worked employment law from every angle. He spent two years as an Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, drafting appellate decisions interpreting federal employment statutes in cases involving adverse actions, protected activities, and whistleblower claims. At a law firm before that, he litigated whistleblower, wage and hour, and civil rights cases on behalf of employees and their unions in federal court, administrative proceedings, and labor arbitration. Most recently, he served in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, advising on mission-critical federal legislation and detailed to the Ethics Division to advise on conflicts and outside activities.
That background shapes how we approach this audit. We know what enforcement looks like from multiple vantage points, and we know the nonprofit-specific wrinkles that general employment counsel typically miss.
Get started.
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