HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand

Now Available On-Demand

Program Length: 7 hours

Learn how to overcome HR compliance challenges in the pandemic-era workplace. From paperless recordkeeping to drug testing, employee classification and leave issues, the COVID-19 vaccine and more, this informative event will help keep your organization compliant in 2021.

HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand provides the information your organization needs to overcome the compliance challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

2020 brought so much change that we're still trying to catch up! From remote work to legalized recreational marijuana to employee safety and everywhere in between, no facet of Human Resources has gone untouched. We're working in the new normal, and because of that, you need to be up to speed on all things compliance!

During the HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand, you can earn valuable CEUs and have access to frequently asked questions from our expert speakers!

The HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand delivers the answers you need now on:

• Safely maintaining cloud records in a remote work environment
• Drug testing requirements related to legalized recreational marijuana
• Leave issues in the aftermath of COVID-19
• Wage and hour and employee classification issues
• Requiring mandatory COVID-19 vaccines in the workplace

Who should attend?

• HR managers
• HR directors
• HR generalists

After participating in this education, you will be able to:

• Implement strategies for accessing, storing, and retrieving electronic records.
• Tackle the unique challenges of enforcing drug testing policies with current employees and new hires.
• Strategize specific workplace initiatives that keep employees safe and working during the ongoing pandemic.
• Remain compliant with state and federal laws when requiring mandatory vaccination.
• Establish best practices for offering employee leave.
• Understand the ins and outs of the employee classification.

Registrants will have access for 60-days from purchase.

HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand

(60 minutes)
Unpacking the Biden Administration: What New Employment Laws Are in the Works?
Presented by Jo Ellen Whitney, Senior Shareholder, Dentons Davis Brown
On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden was sworn in as our 46th U.S. president. And you know what that means? More employment laws will be headed to Congress, which could mean more headaches for HR professionals.

Areas that may see the most change could include:

• Changes to immigration policy
• Increases to the minimum wage
• Expanded employee leave
• Strengthened unions activity
• And more!

While it may still be too soon to tell which labor law will impact your workplace, this session will help you prepare and remain compliant no matter what the administration comes out with.

You'll also learn the ins and outs of the I-9 process; be able to determine the correct way to classify workers; understand the duties test for calculating overtime pay; identify and administer employee leave requests; and develop an action plan for remaining compliant in the wake of new developments from the Biden administration.

(60 minutes)
Reefer Madness: Maintaining Compliance and Safety on the Job Amid Changing State Laws
Presented by Ryan Nell, Shareholder, Pettit Kohn Ingrassia Lutz & Dolin
In 2020, Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota all voted to legalize recreational marijuana. While the use of cannabis remains illegal on the federal level, these states and a score of others throughout the United States permit the use of marijuana on some level, and that number is growing largely.

These new laws and other policy developments have created many challenges and questions for employers, such as:

• Should employers respond to the shift in state laws by relaxing or removing their drug testing policies to allow for employee consumption outside the workplace?
• Should organizations modify or change their policies for applicants or new hires?
• Should employers enact separate rules for safety-sensitive positions?
• What are the financial implications to accommodating these new policies in your workplace?

All of these questions and more will be answered in this engaging session. You’ll also learn how to:

• Implement strategies to accommodate state marijuana laws that work for your organization.
• Develop a plan that keeps your business legal and your employees safe.
• Tackle the unique challenges of enforcing drug testing policies with current employees.
• Enhance onboarding processes that accommodate both the state policies and your organization’s bottom line.

(60 minutes)
Post-Pandemic Paperless Recordkeeping: Remaining Compliant and Secure in a Remote Setting
Presented by Joseph Lazzarotti, Principal, Jackson Lewis P.C.
2020 forced many HR professionals into a remote work environment, with little to no access to paper documents and files. In a rush to adjust, many developed practices and processes to get themselves through the pandemic. But are these practices leaving your company vulnerable to a cyberattack?

Even if your organization is still in-house, moving away from paper to an electronic HR system safeguards employee information while seamlessly creating access to information that’s easily accessible.

While going paperless may not be feasible for every organization, this session will offer strategies and answers to help work more efficiently and keep sensitive data secure!

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Implement strategies for accessing, storing, and retrieving electronic records.
• Identify the needs of a paperless payroll system.
• Enhance employee productivity tracking using electronic documentation.
• Uncover the best tactics for your organization to go paperless.
• Create best practices for securing paperless records against phishing hacks and data breaches.

(25 minutes)
Q&A
Presented by Joseph Lazzarotti, Ryan H. Nell, and Jo Ellen Whitney
If you had questions from the day’s event, here’s your opportunity to get real-time answers from the speakers themselves in this live Q&A networking session. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with speakers in an informal, virtual setting.

(60 minutes)
To Mandate, or Not to Mandate, That Is the Question: Vaccination Policies and the Workplace
Presented by Jennifer Kogos, Partner, Jones Walker LLP & Maggie Spell, Partner, Jones Walker LLP
Keeping your workforce safe from COVID-19 has been an ongoing challenge for the better part of a year, but with the growing distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, HR professionals face new challenges. Can and should employers mandate vaccines in the workplace? How can employers navigate federal antidiscrimination laws while requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19? If not mandating the vaccine, can employers incentivize employees to get the vaccine?

This session will provide a basic overview on how the COVID-19 vaccination interacts with the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and more. You’ll also learn:

• What factors to consider in deciding whether to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine.
• How to evaluate requests for accommodation from employees who cannot take the vaccine because of medical or religious reasons.
• Proper ways to incentivize employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
• How to implement a communication plan surrounding the vaccine and maintain confidentiality.

(60 minutes)
Gig Workers, Independent Contractors, and Employees? Oh My! Understanding the FLSA and Employee Classification
Presented by Jonathan C. Sterling, Carlton Fields
As full-time employees continue to see the value of gig work, more are leaving the workforce to become their own bosses and achieve the flexibility they’ve been craving. As a result, employers are now seeking to hire independent contractors to help pick up the slack. With all these new employee classifications, HR professionals are left wondering: Is my new hire an employee or an independent contractor?

Employing independent contractors comes with many legal concerns that could spark liability and steep penalties from the Department of Labor (DOL) for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax-related issues, or other government enforcers.

Additionally, the DOL had proposed a rule in September 2020 that would have established an “economic reality” test to analyze independent contractor status, but the DOL formally rescinding the rule in March 2021. With the change in administrations means a more employee-friendly DOL, get ahead of these changing laws by having a firm grasp on the FLSA today!

At the end of this session, you’ll be able to:

• Determine whether a worker would likely be deemed an employee, not an independent contractor, in the eyes of the DOL, the IRS, or a judge or jury.
• Seamlessly reclassify independent contractors as employees to minimize the risk of future (ongoing) liability.
• Draft and enforce independent contractor agreements—and the legal minefields these agreements might not be able to save you from.
• How to train hiring managers to ensure they are correctly classifying freelancers and contractors to fill available roles.
• Identify the number one thing the DOL, the IRS, or another government enforcer will want to know if you’re subjected to an employment classification audit.
• Formulate a plan of action for a self-audit of your organization’s employment classifications—where and how to start.
• Spot common mistakes, and correct them before they spark major financial and legal liability for your organization.

(60 minutes)
Administering Leave in a Post-Pandemic World: Strategies and Best Practices for Remaining Compliant with the FMLA and Other Leave Laws
Presented by Lauren Russell, Counsel, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP
In order to help businesses and families overcome the challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which expired at the end of 2020. While the law was meant to provide relief, many employers are now facing an onslaught of litigation primarily alleging they retaliated against employees for seeking and/or using the FFCRA’s leave and sick pay provisions.

While the FFCRA has since passed, employers can still run afoul when it comes to administering Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. No matter the leave request, this session will offer strategies and best practices for remaining compliant under state and federal leave laws.

Learn how to identify how the leave and attendance policies and practices may open the doors for FMLA interference or retaliation claims, understand pay obligations when offering paid sick leave, train supervisors and managers on the correct ways to administer leave, evaluate the completeness and clarity of FMLA medical certifications to ensure that you’re compliant, and more.

(25 minutes)
Q&A
Presented by Jennifer Kogos, Lauren Russell, Maggie Spell, and Jonathan C. Sterling
If you had questions from the day’s event, here’s your opportunity to get real-time answers from the speakers themselves in this live Q&A networking session. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with speakers in an informal, virtual setting.

HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand

Speakers

	Jennifer Kogos is a partner in Jones Walker LLP’s Labor & Employment Practice Group in New Orleans, LA. She advises and defends employers in a broad range of compliance matters and employment disputes. A trusted advisor and dependable advocate, Kogos focuses on litigation, counsel, and training for large employers in the healthcare, retail, and energy industries. Kogos defends employers in litigation under Title VII, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and their state law counterparts. In addition to her experience before federal and state courts, she represents employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its state law counterparts. Kogos’s practice also includes drafting and negotiating employment, noncompetition, and nonsolicitation agreements and providing engaging and timely training programs to address new and reoccurring challenges in the workplace.
	Joseph J. Lazzarotti is a principal in the Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He founded and currently co-leads the firm's Privacy, Data, and Cybersecurity practice group, edits the firm’s Privacy Blog, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Trained as an employee benefits lawyer, focused on compliance, Lazzarotti also is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits practice group.
	Ryan H. Nell, Shareholder, Pettit Kohn Ingrassia Lutz & Dolin, is an employment attorney responsible for representing California employers statewide in both counseling and comprehensive litigation support. With the ever-changing landscape of California and federal employment law, Nell prides himself on assisting clients in staying ahead of the curve in an effort to avoid legal trouble before it arises. He has extensive experience representing clients in harassment, retaliation, and discrimination matters, as well as large-scale wage and hour lawsuits. Nell speaks regularly on a wide range of topics aimed at assisting California employers in the avoidance of legal trouble before it arises, and his work in the field has led to his recognition as a San Diego Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2018-2020 and his inclusion on the inaugural list of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.
	Lauren Russell, of counsel at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, specializes in the representation of employers on a range of issues relating to compliance with local, state, and federal labor and employment laws and constitutional provisions.  She provides compassionate and responsive counsel, targeted at achieving client goals while minimizing cost and risk. Russell emphasizes client counseling—on issues ranging from wage and hour compliance, to workplace training and investigations, to effective employee terminations—with the goal of avoiding litigation before it begins.  Her counseling practice includes handbook revisions, effective policy implementation, and on-site training on legal compliance.
	Maggie Spell is a partner in Jones Walker LLP’s Labor & Employment Practice Group in New Orleans, LA. She helps clients resolve employment-related disputes and provides day-to-day compliance advice regarding workplace issues. Spell focuses her practice on employment-related cases brought under federal, state, and local employment laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. She regularly offers wage and hour compliance advice and has represented employers in numerous Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions as well as class actions under state wage and hour laws. Spell’s litigation experience also includes defending employers in breach of contract and employment-related tort claims. She regularly defends employers and management before state and federal courts throughout the country at the trial and appellate levels, as well as before administrative bodies such as the US Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and similar state agencies.
	Jonathan C. Sterling, of Carlton Fields, defends employers against claims by current and former employees, including claims of wrongful discharge, unpaid wages, and harassment. He appreciates that employment disputes often feel personal, and his goal is to relieve employers of both the legal and the emotional burden they face. His clients include schools, colleges, businesses, municipalities, and other organizations, as well as individuals who have been sued in employment-related litigation. In court nearly every week, Sterling defends employers in cases involving FLSA, FMLA, ERISA, freedom of expression, workers' compensation retaliation, and common law claims. He has obtained numerous dismissals of lawsuits, as well as of administrative complaints filed with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). Sterling routinely defends employers in CHRO and EEOC investigations and has successfully litigated against the CHRO in Superior Court. Sterling belongs to the Employers Counsel Network and is an editor and frequent contributor to the Connecticut Employment Law Letter and 50 Employment Laws in 50 States. He serves as a co-author of the ERISA Litigation Handbook.
	Jo Ellen Whitney primarily practices in the areas of employment and health law. As the current chair of Dentons Davis Brown’s Employment Law and Labor Relations Department, she brings 30 years of practical experience to business planning, discipline, and termination issues for employers.  Her work includes the representation of employers before various administrative agencies including the EEOC, ICRC, OCR, DOL, and OSHA. She frequently provides her clients with on-site training for all levels of employees and is a highly sought-after presenter on labor and health law issues. Whitney is AV® Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by Chambers USA, Great Plains Super Lawyers, and The Best Lawyers in America© for her work.  She was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in March 2018.

HR Comply Virtual Conference: Overcoming Compliance Challenges in the New Normal - On-Demand

Credit Information

Credits for this program expired on 12/31/21.