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Janine Guzman

Janine Guzmán

Partner
Latam Practice Group Regional Co-Leader, Employment
About
With over 35 years of experience, Janine Guzmán has represented corporate clients in complex labor and employment matters including hiring, wage and hour, statutory licenses and employee benefits, performance, discipline and termination, business restructurings, reductions in force and relocations, drug testing programs, discrimination, sexual harassment, workplace harassment, affirmative action, domestic violence, employee privacy, confidentiality and restrictive covenants, defamation, safety in the workplace and immigration. She has developed vast experience in the legal and regulatory aspects of both federal and local labor issues. Janine counsels small, medium and large national and international corporations regarding employment issues on an ongoing basis.

She advises a wide range of businesses covering a number of sectors, among them retail, wholesale, services, educational institutions, hospitality and leisure, communications and manufacturing. Her extensive experience includes wrongful discharges; employment discrimination proceedings at the federal, state and local levels; defending claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Puerto Rico wage-and-hour laws; and representation before the Unemployment Bureau, Industrial Commission, Anti-Discrimination Unit, the EEOC, OSHA, Arbitration and Conciliation Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board. 

Janine works closely with the firm's Corporate group in conducting due diligences and assisting in the disclosures of employee and labor matters in business mergers and acquisitions, on both the buy and sell sides, as well as in stock or asset purchase deals. In recent years, she has participated in important transactions involving financial institutions, communication companies and medical and hospital supply distributors.
Janine currently co-chairs the US Immigration Practice and the LatAm Employment Practice.  She is also the Chair of the Pro Bono Committee and Co-Chair of the D&I Committee for the San Juan DLA Office.

Janine has served as a lecturer in employment law seminars for different organizations, including the Puerto Rico Association for Labor Relations Practitioners, the Society for Human Resources Management and Council of Education in Management. 
She also counsels clients on the regulatory aspects of the Puerto Rico Department of Consumers Affairs, represents them in adjudicative proceedings before the agency and trains management teams on DACO regulations.
 
Bar admissionsPuerto Rico
CourtsUnited States District Court for the District of Puerto RicoUnited States Court of Appeals for the First CircuitSupreme Court of the United States
Adept partner Janine Guzmán of DLA Piper is commended by an interviewee, who reports: 'She is an extremely experienced and professional lawyer who has a good business sense.' Another respondent goes on to add: 'Janine Guzmán is an exceptional labour and employment practitioner in Puerto Rico.'
— Chambers Latin America Guide, 2023
Education
  • J.D., Inter American University of Puerto Rico

Awards

Chambers Latin America

  • Band 3, Puerto Rico Labor & Employment (2020  – 2024  – 2025)

Chambers comments, "Noteworthy practitioner Janine Guzmán is praised by clients, who state: 'She has good technical knowledge and knows our business well, both of which enable her to provide us with exceptional advice.'"

The Legal 500 Latin America

  • Leading Lawyer, Puerto Rico Labour and Employment (2021-2025)

The Legal 500 comments, "Practice head Janine Guzman stands out for her experience in matters relating to audits, visa application proceedings for immigrant workers and awareness workshops and training programs. She also defends employers with respect to charges of alleged age and gender discrimination, defamation and wrongful termination."

  • Recommended, Puerto Rico Dispute Resolution and Bankruptcy (2021-2022)

The Legal 500 comments, "The firm's Puerto Rico-based professionals include Janine Guzman, a labor and employment lawyer who also covers labor disputes, with special attention to dismissals..."

Other recognitions 
  • Chambers Latin America: Band 3, Puerto Rico Labor & Employment (2020-2022, 2024)
  • Chambers comments, "Noteworthy practitioner Janine Guzmán is praised by clients, who state: 'She has good technical knowledge and knows our business well, both of which enable her to provide us with exceptional advice.'"
  • The Legal 500 Latin America: Leading Lawyer, Puerto Rico Labour and Employment (2021-2022)
  • The Legal 500 comments, "Practice head Janine Guzman stands out for her experience in matters relating to audits, visa application proceedings for immigrant workers and awareness workshops and training programmes. She also defends employers with respect to charges of alleged age and gender discrimination, defamation and wrongful termination."
  • Recommended, Puerto Rico Dispute Resolution and Bankruptcy (2021-2022)
  • The Legal 500 comments, "The firm's Puerto Rico-based professionals include Janine Guzman, a labour and employment lawyer who also covers labour disputes, with special attention to dismissals..."

Seminars

Presentation on “The Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board’s Opposition to the 2022 Labor Reform” at the DLA Piper International Employment Law Conference in the University of Oxford in UK, 13 September 2022
D&I Breakfast Roundtable for Clients of the Firm at the Vanderbilt Hotel, 15 November 2023
Immigration Seminar “What you should Know About Work Visas and Compliance Requirements for I-9 Forms”, for the association of Labor Relations Practitioners at Los Chavales, 23 May 2024.

News Overview

New law promotes remote work within Puerto Rico for out-of-state employers, 02 February 2024
USCIS releases updated Form I-9: Top points for Puerto Rico employers, 16 January 2024
Proposed Puerto Rico law would expand protections for employees aged 60 or over who are laid off, 07 September 2023
Puerto Rico: Act No. 54 amended to recognize economic violence as a form of domestic violence, 07 August 2023
Court declares Puerto Rico’s 2022 labor reform null, 07 March 2023
Puerto Rico: key takeaways about proposed amendments to Salary Equality Act of 2017, 12 January 2023
Puerto Rico employers take note: new law expands sexual harassment obligations, 19 October 2022
Litigation over Puerto Rico Act No 41 creates more uncertainty for employers, 18 October 2022
Puerto Rico Act No. 41 leaves employers uncertain about labor obligations, 24 August 2022
The Governor of Puerto Rico signed into law new labor reform legislation – but its implementation is unclear, 28 June 2022

Prior Experience

Successfully led the most complex US visa application proceeding held in Puerto Rico, petitioning approximately 180 visas for immigrant workers from Spain and Mexico to work on the final phase of a major construction project of an important European Hotel chain in the island
Frequently provides awareness workshops and manager training programs on compliance issues relating the legal and regulatory requirements that apply to business operation in Puerto Rico to management and human resources personnel.
Extensive experience in designing and implementing labor legal audits designed to identify compliance issues. Conducting disciplinary investigations for the detection of fraud and other irregular activities and ensuring the implementation of loss prevention practices. Handled a sensitive fraud investigation of a top manager of a 500 fortune company which culminated with an indictment
Counseled several multimillion-dollar firms regarding the employment implications of their proposed mergers or acquisitions
Effectively defended employers with respect to an EEOC charges alleging age discrimination
Obtained summary judgment on former employee's discrimination based on gender identity, defamation and wrongful termination claims
Successfully represented employers in cases involving employees' claims for unjust dismissal
Successfully represented ab employer in a lawsuit alleging wrongful discharge, unpaid overtime pay, meal period penalties and commissions

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Federal Bar Association
  • Society for Human Resources Management
  • Association of Labor Relations Practitioners
  • Puerto Rico Bar Association
 

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