Erin Barker

Erin Barker advises clients on various employment and ERISA & benefits-related matters. Erin’s practice includes navigating legal compliance and best practices for workforce management; designing and implementing employment agreements, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, and severance agreements; counseling on compliance with ERISA, the Affordable Care Act, COBRA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal and state laws; conducting employee benefits due diligence in connection with a merger or acquisition; and responding to an investigation or audit by the U.S. Department of Labor or Internal Revenue Service.

My Practices

ERISA & Employee Benefits

• Drafting employee benefit plans, including short term incentive programs.
• Assisting a national corporation with the design, drafting, and implementation of a voluntary window severance program.
• Conducting fiduciary trainings for qualified retirement and welfare plan trustees.
• Conducting employee benefit due diligence in mergers and acquisitions.
• Responding to IRS assessments of Employer Shared Responsibility Payments under the Affordable Care Act, including successfully eliminating a six-figure assessment.
• Assisting a multiple employer welfare arrangement that provides health insurance to employees of member employers with responding to a Department of Labor audit.

Labor & Employment

• Drafting and advising employers in implementing employee handbooks, policies, and practices.
• Advising employers on navigating workplace changes and regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Responding to EEOC charges filed by employees and former employees.

• Advising employers on responding to U.S. Department of Labor and state-level employee classification and wage and hour investigations.

• Advising employers on compliance with federal employment laws, including Title VII, ADA, FLSA, Equal Pay Act, and ADEA, as well as state employment laws, including the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act and youth employment laws.

• Assisting employers with worker classification.

• Helping employers navigate workforce reductions and voluntary separation programs, including conducting discrimination analyses, drafting OWBPA notices, and drafting separation agreements and general releases.

Transactional

• Representing business entities of all types and sizes in general business matters, such as entity formation and organization, corporate governance, and contract drafting and negotiation.

Non-Profit Organizations

• Assisting non-profit organizations with formation, including drafting organizational documents, and attainment of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

• Drafting and advising non-profit organizations on various operational matters and policies, including implementing workforce reductions, navigating employee discipline, and implementing volunteer policies.

Education

Campbell University School of Law, J.D., 2021, summa cum laude; Executive Editor, Campbell Law Review Vol. 43

North Carolina State University, B.A., 2015, summa cum laude

Admissions

North Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina

Multimedia

Professional & Civic Activities

Member, Law Student Outreach Committee, NCBA Young Lawyers Division (2022-2023)

Member, NCBA Student Division (2015–2018)

Member, ABA Law Student Division (2015–2018)

As a former high school teacher in downtown Raleigh, I quickly learned to adapt to new situations while keeping focused on my goals. I worked with efficiency, creativity, collaboration, and a service-oriented mindset, and I have transferred these skills to my legal practice to build successful outcomes for clients.