Description

Duration – 90 Minutes       | Speaker – Margie Faulk, PHR, SHRM-CP

Overview:

If there’s ever a time to rethink your handbook, it’s now. Federal, State and Local regulations have expanded and regulatory agencies are revving up audit focus for 2023 and beyond.

Workers’ new expectations may clash with employers’ old policies. Policies that ban flexibilities, ban certain policies as per the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and concerted activity may feel frustratingly out of date. As noted in a memorandum from a former General Counsel of the NLRB: “…incorrectly designed employee handbooks can violate the law and have a ‘chilling effect’ on employees’ activities.” And yet, many organizations punt on handbook refreshes. A lot of companies don’t update their employee handbooks as often as they should.

With the shift to hybrid work/Remote work, organizations must set clear expectations around communication, and performance. Managers and associates both play a significant role in making [hybrid work] successful within their teams, and HR teams have an opportunity to provide tools and guidelines to make it even easier.

With 2023 here already, now is the time for employers to consider updating their employee handbooks. Handbooks, handed out at orientation and often thereafter ignored, are an important compliance tool for employers addressing all manner of employment issues. And handbook policies can be a helpful tool when defending a variety of employment claims, such as wage and hour violations, harassment and discrimination lawsuits, and leave disputes.

An outdated handbook, however, can be a liability, particularly for multistate employers with a widely dispersed work force. These employers in particular must be attuned to the myriad of different employment laws and must be aware of new developments in any states where any employee is located. These complicated compliance requirements may seem tedious or burdensome, especially in an environment where employers are already struggling with recruiting and hiring, but failure to do so can be costly. However, according to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the National Labor Relations Board’s employee handbook requirements for union and non-union employees, we are more than ever policies that Employers can be violating policies that have been changed by the new administration.

What you’ll Learn:

• Identify and prepare for employee handbook violations
• All the new regulations that will impact their company
• Identify the most common employee handbook violations and how to mitigate them
• Five employee handbook policies do more to reduce risk when added to your handbook
• New Employee Handbook changes established that help Employers!
• Learn which regulatory agency will focus on which regulation and mitigate the risk
• Policies that can land you in hot water
• Policies that are “must have” for your employee handbook
• Social media and the impact of penalties when employees choose to speak negatively about their Employer
• New paid leave laws and how Employers can manage them
• Impact of “Ban the Box” regulations on criminal background screening regulations
• States where asking candidates for salary history has been prohibited. What that means?
• What is the difference between employee handbooks and company policies?
• Identify the best practices that can propel your company to be compliance savvy
• Learn how your managers/supervisors can be your Ambassadors in workplace compliance or your downfall
• How training can be one of your “first line of defense” if you are sued
• Best practice on communicating your updates to employees and having them acknowledge your employee handbook according to guidelines
• A review of the NLRB’s memorandum on employee handbooks
• Best practices in developing an employee handbook

Who should Attend:

• Business Owners
• Federal Contractors
• Department Heads
• HR professionals
• Compliance professionals
• Payroll Professionals
• Risk Management Organisations
• Managers/Supervisors & New and potential managers
• Office Managers responsible for HR responsibilities
• The person responsible for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)