Melissa Calhoon Jones counsels small and medium-sized companies on labor, employment, and immigration matters. A frequent speaker to trade associations, and with over a decade of experience in the field, Ms. Jones has established herself as an employment law authority for closely held Maryland businesses.
Her many clients include technology and life science companies, a museum, business and financial services companies, long-term care facilities, and hospitality industry businesses. Because she often deals directly with executives and managers without legal training, she is capable of explaining complex legal issues clearly to non-attorneys.
Employment Law
Ms. Jones provides practical, business-minded guidance to employers on all aspects of the employment relationship.
She is experienced in handling discrimination, harassment, accommodation of disabilities, family and medical leave, wage payment, labor relations, plant closing, performance management, termination of employment, and restrictive covenants. She has negotiated collective bargaining agreements, conducted impact-and-effects bargaining for management, and litigated unfair labor practice charges. Well versed in a variety of alternative dispute resolution techniques, she has resolved many employment-related disputes through mediation and grievance arbitration. In addition, she conducts internal investigations.
Ms. Jones regularly prepares and reviews documents relating to all aspects of the employment relationship, such as offer letters and employment contracts, employment handbooks and policies, non-competition agreements, and severance agreements. In addition, she has presented training programs for her clients’ executives, managers, and staff.
She has represented clients before both federal and state administrative agencies and in federal and state courts on employment matters involving Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the ADA, FMLA, FLSA, state legislation, and common law. Ms. Jones has advocated on behalf of clients before the:
- U.S. Department of Labor;
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
- National Labor Relations Board;
- Maryland Human Relations Commission; and
- Howard County Commission on Human Rights.
Before joining Tydings & Rosenberg, Ms. Jones was a labor relations attorney for the District of Columbia Office of Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining. Prior to that, she was in private practice with The Berkley Law Group, P.C., in San Francisco, California.
Immigration
Federal law places the burden on companies to ensure that the foreign nationals they hire are employed in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Ms. Jones counsels employers on work authorization compliance issues. She assists eligible foreign nationals and employers with the process of obtaining employment-based non-immigrant status and permanent residence status.
Leadership
Ms. Jones is a frequent speaker on, and author of numerous articles about, employment law matters. Most recently, she has written a series of articles for Inside Counsel. She was also quoted in an article that explores how state laws can make noncompete agreements a challenge. You can read this article, "Competition Challenges," which appeared in the December 2010 edition of Inside Counsel.
Ms. Jones is also an active member of Meritas Law Firms Worldwide and currently serves on the organization’s Board of Directors and is Vice Chair of Finance. She is past chair of its Labor & Employment Section and a member of its Leadership Institute Class of 2006.
In 2010, Ms. Jones was selected as one of Baltimore's "Legal Elite" by Smart CEO Magazine.
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