Entity Framework wrapper to return custom objects using LINQ

List of Objects

public static List<Employee> GetEmployessFromDepartment(int departmentID)
{
    var searchResults = new List<Employee>();

    using (var entities = new EFEntities())
    {
        try
        {
            searchResults = (from a in entities.SelectEmployeeByDepartment(departmentID)
                        select (new Employee()
                        {
                            FirstName = a.first_name,
                            SurName = a.surname,
                            Title = a.job_title,
                            Department = a.department_description,
                            Phone = a.phone_number,
                            Email = a.email_address
                        }))
                        .ToList();
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Log.Error(ex);
            throw;
        }
    }

    return searchResults;
}

Single Object

public static Employee GetEmployeeFromID(int employeeID)
{
    var result = new Employee();

    using (var entities = new EFEntities())
    {
        try
        {
            result = (from a in entities.SelectEmployee(employeeID)
                        select new Employee
                        {
                            FirstName = a.first_name,
                            SurName = a.surname,
                            Title = a.job_title,
                            Department = a.department_description,
                            Phone = a.phone_number,
                            Email = a.email_address
                        })
                        .SingleOrDefault();
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Log.Error(ex);
            throw;
        }
    }

    return result;
}