Employment Law

The latest and best practical information about workplace laws you must know!

• Confidently apply the latest thinking on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Avoid the most common and costly Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) breaches — including new federal focal points!
• Learn about the recent changes in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage and hour laws
• Discover new legal thinking on employment-at-will, hiring, disciplining and firing
• Identify hiring do's and don'ts that keep you out of the courtroom
• Stay current on the newest legal hot spots, such as high-tech privacy and records retention

Now more than ever … what you don't know about employment law can hurt you and your organization

There was a time when employment law was exclusively the concern of the company attorney. Sure, there were certain things managers were told not to do — like ask questions about an applicant's family responsibilities during an interview or have staff handle personal errands on company time — but beyond these and a few other "no-nos," employment law was pretty much considered common sense. One quick look at recent, costly court cases and you'll realize those days are gone for good.

Today, employment laws are far-reaching, and managers — along with the organizations they work for — can't afford the luxury of ignorance. You must be up to date on the law, as well as all its fuzzy interpretations, and know precisely how those laws apply to situations within your organization. Otherwise, you risk employee complaints, lawsuits and hefty fines. Additionally, federal laws and the courts' interpretation of those laws has changed in recent months. For the uninformed, it's a recipe for disaster.

That's what makes this one-day program — offering a comprehensive overview of current employment law — so valuable for managers, human resources directors and others in your organization. Unlike other presentations, this course focuses on practical workplace applications that prepare you to deal with the real-life issues you face every day that, quite literally, hold your company's profits and your reputation in the balance.

Don't leave your organization at the mercy of confusing, unclear, contradictory employment laws. Get the answers you need in one comprehensive presentation by enrolling now!

Who should attend?

• Human resources directors and staff
• Managers, supervisors, team leaders
• Business owners
• General managers, operations managers

Americans with Disabilities Act & Family and Medical Leave Act

• Laws, recent court decisions, basic requirements and current parameters
• "Reasonable accommodations" and "hardships" as defined and dictated by courts
• The tricky terrain of stress-related and mental disabilities
• Policies that are legal in dealing with an employee who has a "managed" health condition or disease

Essential EEOC Documentation & BFOQ Standards

• How to ensure your Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (BFOQ) for every job are legally compliant
• Title VII: who's covered, what's covered and the surprising things that aren't
• Recent rulings and where the law's laser-focus is scrutinizing EEOC compliance today
• The #1 thing you can do to ensure your policies and procedures are EEOC compliant
• Must-know tips for dealing with a multi-cultural workforce and language barriers
• Retaliation and whistleblowers — what you can and can't do now
• Essential steps to take when investigating employee allegations

FLSA Wage and Hour Law Compliance

• Case Studies: the surprising recent violations with the Department of Labor
• New changes in wage and hour law to keep you current
• At last — clear-cut guidelines for classifying every employee as exempt or non-exempt
• Tips for avoiding costly mistakes in classifying employees
• The essential step you must take to ensure jobs are classified in a way you can justify
• Legally approved ways to deal with contract workers, telecommuters and home-based workers
• How you must treat "special absences" such as religious holidays
• When you can — and can't — legally dock pay or otherwise penalize employees

Employment-at-Will, Hiring, Disciplining and Firing

• Understanding the Model Employment Termination Act (META)
• What you must know about "at-will" employment to sidestep legal landmines
• The single most important thing you can do to avoid wrongful termination suits
• How handbooks are impacting ability to terminate "at will" in court
• The most common ways employee handbooks expose you to legal risks
• Ways to ensure your employees are up to date on handbook and policy changes
• Essential techniques for following the court-accepted way to document performance and behavior issues
• The art and purpose of writing behavior expectations into job descriptions
• Your rights in dealing with acceptable performers with attitude problems — what you can't do
• Simple steps you can take to make your discipline and termination practices above legal question
• What you must never do when terminating an employee during probation

Updates on Interviewing, Hiring and Records Retention

• A checklist to ensure you interview and hire legally
• Pre-employment and employment records you must keep — and how long to keep them
• What to cover, and also what not to mention, in employment contracts and offer letters
• Legal and illegal pre-employment testing: what you need to know
• The latest on background, credit and reference checks that may surprise you
• Employers' rights with drug testing and substance abuse on the job — legal issues to avoid

Employee Privacy "Hot Spots"

• What organizations can do to protect employee privacy of information
• Employee behaviors that impact their health and company insurance rates — what you can and can't mandate
• Your rights and responsibilities when you know of an employee's medical issue, managed condition, or disease
• Guidelines for managing employee personal and medical information
• Employee rights regarding Internet, e-mail, voicemail and video surveillance
• What you can monitor legally — and what is strictly out of bounds
• Immediate steps to follow if an employee says you've invaded his/her privacy
• How to build technology policies and procedures to use at work and from remote locations
• The legal way to deal with inappropriate Internet communications, including company bashing and employee gossip