Ira D. Wincott represents and counsels clients in a range of labor and employment matters, with particular emphasis on day-to-day workplace issues and labor relations issues in all industries, with an emphasis on healthcare and home healthcare. Ira has an extensive practice representing licensed home care services agencies and fiscal intermediaries in all aspects of labor and employment law specific to home healthcare, including wage parity, wage and hour compliance and litigation including representation before various governmental agencies and defending lawsuits, handbook and policy creation and compliance, leave issues and avoiding and defending discrimination issues in the workplace.

He has extensive experience before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) defending and filing unfair labor practice charges, representing clients when faced with representation petitions and bargaining collective bargaining agreements. His focus encompasses:

Advising and representing employers in union avoidance strategies, during union organizing campaigns and elections, in addition to strategies required in potential successor employer situations
Guiding employers through collective bargaining and labor arbitrations
Devising labor objectives and strategies for clients
Drafting employment agreements, handbooks, and policies
Counseling clients and human resource professionals with day-to-day workplace issues and defending employment discrimination cases
Defending clients in wage and hour litigation (individual and class actions) and before governmental agencies Counseling clients in employee issues including leave and accommodations and discrimination issues
Providing guidance to home healthcare clients on compliance with laws and regulations unique to those clients including wage parity, wage and hour issues, LS62 compliance and representing clients before the NYDOL, NYDOH, OMIG, NYAG, US Attorney, NYSDHR and other governmental agencies

He practices before all New York federal, state and local courts, as well as various federal, state and local labor and employment agencies, including the NLRB, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health (DOH), the Office of Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) and the New York State Attorney General.

Ira’s former experience as general counsel to a large labor union and as counsel to its funds for nine years allows him to provide clients with a unique perspective when dealing with labor relations issues. That experience included the filing and/or conducting of 1,000 labor arbitrations, conducting organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, and preparation of collective bargaining agreements, appearing before the NLRB on 400 matters involving a wide variety of issues and arbitrating and litigating Fund matters as counsel to the Union’s various affiliated Funds.

Besides his vast experience in the retail and wholesale food industry, Ira has an extensive practice representing employers in the home healthcare industry in all phases of labor and employment issues, including educating employers in union organizing strategies and labor relations issues with unionized employers. With respect to employment issues, Ira has experience in keeping healthcare clients educated, updated and in compliance with the ever-changing rules and regulations in healthcare, which includes wage and hour issues, wage parity and handling audits and governmental investigations common in the industry. Some of Ira’s other clients include retailers, manufacturing companies, car dealerships, school bus operators, and property managers.