Today’s workplace environment is a veritable jungle for employers. There are legal quicksand and snake pits at nearly every step of hiring, managing and terminating employees. Whether dealing with performance issues, payroll issues, benefits issues, or managing employee attendance problems, employers must be prepared to deal with legal challenges at every turn.

Constangy, Brooks & Smith presents its annual one-day seminar to assist employers in surviving the dangers and pitfalls of workplace laws. This is an interactive program designed for human resource professionals, supervisors and managers, and corporate counsel. A series of sessions has been added this year for those interested in an advanced knowledge track. The program includes a useful seminar manual, lunch and a cocktail reception at the end of the day. This is an opportunity to obtain answers to questions, learn new techniques, and interact with other human resource professionals on an informal and informational basis.

The workshop will be offered in several cities, and a number of topics, such as those outlined below, will be presented at each. To learn more about the specific topics being offered at a workshop near you, or to receive a brochure, call the contact at the office of your choice.

Thursday, March 11, 2004
Marriott Waterside Hotel
Tampa, Florida
To register or for more information, contact:
Doris Key at 813.223.7166 or dkey@constangy.com

March 28-30, 2004
The Cloister at Sea Island
Sea Island, Georgia
This is a separate conference with
a different agenda. Click on PDF for details.
Spring Conference 2004.pdf

Thursday, April 8, 2004
Sawgrass Marriott Resort
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
To register or for more information, contact:
Bonnie Darnofall at 904.356.8900 or bdarnofall@constangy.com

Thursday, April 22, 2004
Kansas City Marriott Downtown
Kansas City, Missouri
To register or for more information, contact:
Annette Tomasich at 816.472.6400 or atomasich@constangy.com

Friday, April 30, 2004
Employers Association Complex
Charlotte, North Carolina
To register or for more information, contact:
Amy Stemper at 336.721.1001 or astemper@constangy.com

Thursday, May 6, 2004
Union Station, A Wyndham Historic Hotel
Nashville, Tennessee
To register or for more information, contact:
Lisa Hagenbuch at 615.320.5200 or lhagenbuch@constangy.com

Thursday, May 13, 2004
Cobb Galleria Conference Centre
Atlanta, Georgia
To register or for more information, contact:
Marsha Teel at 404.230.6724 or mteel@constangy.com

In this session, we will review the latest regulatory guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor, including the new COBRA regulations and proposed IRC Section 401(k) and 401(m) regulations. Also, we will discuss some of the practical concerns of HIPAA privacy administration and the benefits impact from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will complete our session with an overview of some fiduciary concerns under ERISA.EPLI: What the Heck Did I Buy?

In recent years, an increasing number of employers have explored the possibility of limiting their business’ exposure to legal liability through the purchase of a product known as Employment Practices Liability Insurance or "EPLI." Although purchasing EPLI can be very beneficial, several employers have regretted purchasing EPLI policies that were not tailored to suit their particular needs, or which did not provide the protection they thought they were buying. There are many questions an employer should ask internally before purchasing EPLI. Moreover, there are important questions an employer should ask prospective carriers before selecting an EPLI policy. This portion of the Workshop will analyze those questions, as well as address how to handle issues after EPLI coverage has been purchased.

Your HR and Safety Managers can inoculate your tribe against exposure to OSHA inspections and citations. Learn how to prepare for an OSHA inspection and tips for making the experience less venomous. This session will also update you on recent developments at the Agency so that your team won’t vote you off the island. Also included will be the latest recordkeeping interpretations should you have an ugly experience with a mongoose or other injury or illness while on the island.

During this session, you will be entertained and educated on the finer points of completing performance evaluations by watching live testimony at trial by a human resource professional. The witness will defend and justify a performance evaluation in response to questions from opposing attorneys – a valuable learning experience for everyone.

Are your employees’ rumblings and grumblings more than harmless griping? These complaints could actually qualify as protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act. This talk will assist employers with identifying when an individual employee’s speech and actions establish protected concerted activity and what an employer can do to protect itself when dealing with a unionized or non-unionized workforce. We will also review an employee’s right to be represented during meetings with management on discipline issues in both union and non-union settings.

This session is specifically designed to address the special challenges of public employers and will provide an informative look at recent developments such as issues relating to the Public Employees Relations Act, Constitutional law claims, complying with special wage and hour requirements and tips to avoid FMLA claims.

The laws that affect employers are constantly changing as a result of new state and federal legislation, regulatory action, and precedent-setting court decisions. This session will discuss important recent developments; including the Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action, the status of new regulations on exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, recent court decisions under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, and new legislation on background checks under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Today, employers are struggling to find quality employees who are ready, willing, and able to do a good job. Given the costs associated with selecting and training new employees, as well as the risks inherent in discharging poor employees, employers are placing more emphasis than ever before on pre-employment screening and testing. For the unwary employer, however, pre-employment inquiries, screening, and testing may prove to be fertile ground for litigation. This session discusses pitfalls commonly associated with pre-employment screening and testing, as well as ways to avoid potential liability.

Human Resources professionals constantly struggle to resolve attendance issues. In today’s society, attendance issues range from returning soldiers to that employee who is sick every Monday. In this interactive session, learn tips on how to resolve these matters without running afoul of the FMLA, ADA, workers’ compensation laws, and USERRA.

Being an HR survivor begins with a properly planned defensive strategy. Navigating the maze of regulations and documentation requirements, while keeping track of numerous personnel records can be a daunting task. This interactive session aims to assist the HR professional in successfully managing and perfecting the first line of defense—the personnel file. Join us as we unveil practical and useful guidelines to help human resource professionals protect themselves against those salivating OFCCP compliance officers and scrutinizing EEOC investigators in the creation of the Perfect Personnel File.

More and more courts are placing legal burdens on employers to provide various forms of workplace training. These obligations include sexual harassment, FMLA, safety, and other topics. This section of the program will outline the current status of training requirements and how employers can comply.

In this new era of business ethics, we take a fresh look at recommended steps for all businesses, public and private. Such measures as independent directors, an audit committee, internal accounting controls, financial transparency, controls over insider transactions, and the establishment and enforcement of a business code of conduct and ethics are all steps that should be seriously considered. We review each in this in-depth discussion of business ethics. More importantly, we focus on how to make these steps work effectively for you and your business.

What does it mean to "employ" an individual? What does it mean to "suffer or permit" someone to work? Is on-call time compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act? Are "rest and meal periods" considered paid working time? What obligations exist if an employee works at her desk during lunch? This program will explore the scope of "hours worked" under the Act and will address various situations in which time must be counted and paid as compensable hours worked. The program also will include discussion of permissible deductions of salaried, exempt employees, as well as wage/hour "best practices." You may forward questions in advance to be discussed during the program, or bring questions with you to the seminar.

Recently, the annual quota for H-1B visas dropped from 195,000 to 65,000. All "excess" H-1B petitions will be on hold until a new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2004. The net effect will be a black-out period for new H-1B teachers, systems analysts, engineers, and other professionals across all industries. Meanwhile, the L-1 "multinational" visa is under fire as an alternative to the H-1B visa. This program will address the latest developments in work-based visas, offering strategies and options for employers seeking to hire or retain foreign workers during the economic recovery.

This session will focus on internal and alternative dispute resolution processes. We will examine what the law requires employers to include in internal and alternative resolution processes, including "standard" arbitration proceedings; discuss how you can create a working model for an effective dispute resolution process; and most importantly, help you answer whether internal and alternative dispute resolution is really in your best interests.

The annual quota for H-1B visas recently dropped from 195,000 to 65,000. All "excess" H-1B petitions will be on hold until a new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2004. The net effect will be a black-out period for professionals across all industries. Meanwhile, the L-1 multinational visa is under fire as an "improper alternative" to the H-1B visa. This program addresses the latest developments in work-based visas, offering strategies and options for employers seeking to hire or retain foreign workers during the economic recovery.

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