AGENDA

Conference Details
2013 Advanced Employment Issues Symposium features three days of crucial employment law guidance and lively interaction with the nation’s leading authorities on the best management practices. Special tracks let you tailor your Symposium experience to address specific areas of interest, although you are never locked into one track.

Main Conference, Day 1

Opening Keynote

8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Employment and Health Benefits Law Outlook for 2014 and Beyond
Moderator Marylou Fabbo (Las Vegas)
Moderator Susan Fentin (Orlando)
Panelist John Hickman (Orlando and Las Vegas)
Panelist Dinita James (Orlando and Las Vegas)
Panelist Jason Ritchie (Orlando)
Panelist Mark Schickman (Las Vegas)

AEIS 2013 kicks off with a bang, with a lively, informative panel discussion that will bring you up to speed on all of the critical legislative, regulatory, and case law developments from the past year that affect your workplace policies and practices and health benefit plans—as well as a preview of what’s coming at you next:

• The U.S. Supreme Court decisions that you MUST consider when making personnel decisions
• The latest rulings from the highly employee-friendly NLRB
• Wage/hour traps that affect even the savviest, most compliance-oriented employers
• The newest bias claims employees are filing in massive numbers
• Social media interpretations and best practices
• Latest agency guidance related to the Affordable Care Act
• Emerging employment and benefit law trends for 2013, 2014, and beyond

9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.: Breakouts

Healthcare and Benefits Track

Wellness Programs and Health Risk Assessments: Time for Your Check-Up
Ben Conley (Orlando and Las Vegas)

The productivity of your workers depends largely on their health. That’s why three in four U.S. employers now offer wellness programs — activities designed to help workers lose weight, stop smoking, increase their physical activity levels, and manage chronic issues such as diabetes. But all good intentions aside, your corporate wellness activities may be breaking the law: health screenings may give rise to invasion-of-privacy claims, for example, and wellness incentives may be unwittingly discriminating against employees with disabilities. Don’t miss this informative session, when you’ll learn:

• The most common reasons many current wellness programs unknowingly violate the law
• Best practices for health risk assessments
• The very tricky issues surrounding your offering of incentives and discounts
• What legal boundaries you face in regulating health-related conduct on and off duty—from prohibiting smoking to requiring the use of seat belts
• How to prevent discrimination and harassment claims resulting from your wellness programs, particularly violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
• The key provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with which you must comply as an employer
• How to identify and comply with the wide range of state laws that could affect your wellness programs (e.g., statutes prohibiting the termination of employees who smoke)

Compliance Track

Papers, Please! Mastering FMLA Documentation
Stacie Caraway (Las Vegas)
Mike Barnsback (Orlando)

Of all the challenges relating to FMLA administration (and there are many), perhaps the most daunting is all the recordkeeping that accompanies a leave request. In this session, we’ll use real-life paperwork and leave request examples to help demystify your most vexing FMLA recordkeeping challenges. You’ll learn how to properly use FMLA documentation in the context of:

• Approving a continuous leave (and when you shouldn’t!)
• Approving an intermittent leave (and when you shouldn’t!)
• Questioning an ongoing leave
• Approving a military caregiver leave (under the new FMLA regulations)
• Approving a qualifying exigency leave (under the new FMLA regulations)
• Recertification of a serious health condition
• New certification of an ongoing serious health condition
• Fitness-for-duty/return-to-work certifications

Compensation Track

How to Develop a Compensation Strategy That Works for Your Organization
Katie Miller Busch for Stacey McClure (Orlando and Las Vegas)

You know that your organization’s success depends on attracting and retaining top talent — and that the best talent demands, if not top-of-the-market pay, at least highly competitive compensation. But where to start? Join us for this valuable big-picture session, when you’ll learn:

How to create a compensation strategy that matches your organization’s goals and mission
Tips for staying competitive without breaking the bank

The most popular tools for designing, administering, recording, and communicating about salary structure design

The compensation planning you should be doing right now if you’re a public company, a small- or medium-sized private company, or a nonprofit organization

Tactics for retaining valuable employees who do not have an ownership stake

How to manage compensation as an open topic of conversation among employees

How frequently other organizations are adjusting salary ranges, and how to determine what’s optimal for your organization

Employment Law Hot Topics Track

OFCCP Steps Up Enforcement: What You Need to Know
Chris Chrisbens (Las Vegas)
Cheryl Behymer (Orlando)

The OFCCP’s stepped-up enforcement of federal con­tractors’ equal employment opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action obligations is clicking along, with a particular focus on federal contractors’ obligations to veterans and people with disabilities. Additionally, the recent introduction and application of a new back-pay calculator tool that leads to higher damages will be expanded. If you’re a federal contractor, you won’t want to miss this crucial session, when we’ll explain:

• How the new veterans and disability initiatives affect you
• Current trends in OFCCP enforcement
• Recent settlements that will send you reeling – and tips on how to avoid becoming the next headline
• New recordkeeping burdens for federal contractors
• What the new “seven percent” rule means for you
• Changes to the OFCCP’s compensation standards, and what’s coming down the line next

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.:  Breakouts

Healthcare & Benefits Track

ACA’s Play-or-Pay Safe Harbors and Guidelines
John Hickman (Orlando and Las Vegas)

The ACA’s play-or-pay provision, effective January 2014 imposes a confiscatory excise tax on employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees unless they offer group health benefits to full-time employees working, on average, 30 or more hours per week. And, even when coverage is offered employers could still pay a penalty if the coverage is not affordable, or doesn’t provide minimum value. Get your questions answered with this in-depth session, when we’ll cover:

• How to calculate your number of full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees for purposes of this provision
• What the penalties are for non-compliance
• Applicable measurement periods under the safe harbor
• Whether it’s okay to impose a waiting period without being subject to a penalty
• What happens if an employee waives coverage
• Differences in how you must treat new hires and ongoing employees
• When coverage is considered “affordable” and provides “minimum value”

Compliance Track

Managing Employees with Chronic Illnesses – Legally and Compassionately
Susan Fentin (Orlando)
Marylou Fabbo and Cathleen Yonahara (Las Vegas)

It’s an unfortunate fact of life: People – including employees – get sick. Sometimes very sick, and for long periods of time. How can you, as an HR professional, best manage the challenges of having a chronically ill employee at your workplace? Compassion is essential, of course, but so is legal compliance – and you also need to make sure everything remains covered. You won’t want to miss this important session, when we’ll explain:

• The legal protections employees with chronic illnesses are entitled to
• What happens if an employee uses just enough intermittent leave to never exhaust his or her bank
• Strategies for handling sensitive mental illnesses, including depression and bipolar disorder
• How to work through the reasonable accommodation process with an employee who may never be back up to 100%
• The medical inquires, limited examinations, and documentation you may legally request that the employee provide
• When you may legally discipline or terminate a chronically ill employee without triggering liability under federal disability and leave laws

Compensation Track

Pay Grades: How to Stay Competitive and Avoid Common Mistakes
Ron Keimach (Orlando and Las Vegas)

In a recent employee confidence survey, one in three employees say that they will be actively seeking new jobs in 2013. Given that restlessness, the best way to retain your current talent, particularly the top performers, is by having a solid compensation structure in place. And that means making sure your pay grades are up to date and ready to focus the interest of those antsy employees. This session will explain:

• What a well-designed base pay system looks like, including common types of base pay structures
• How to avoid the most common mistakes relating to pay grades
• Market pricing and regression analysis, and how these practices are critical in a solid base pay system
• How to address hard-to-classify positions and deal with outliers
• Strategies for identifying potential inequity issues via compa-ratio analysis
• How to ensure the future growth of employees within your base pay structure, including salary range placement guidelines

Employment Law Hot Topics Track

Plan/Prevent/Protect: What Employers Must Know – and Do
Charlie Plumb (Orlando & Las Vegas)

Brace yourself: Sweeping new federal regulations are in the works that will affect nearly every U.S. business. This new initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Labor, is known as “Plan/Prevent/Protect” (also known informally as “P-Cubed” or “P3”). P3 will require every entity covered by the FLSA, OSHA, the OFCCP, and MSHA to make written plans (“Plan”), create processes (“Prevent”), and test the processes with designated compliance employees (“Protect”). It’s a heck of a lot for employers to take on, to say the least. Join us for this in-depth session and learn:

• What P3 means for you as an employer
• The new responsibilities you may be required to undertake – and when
• When the DOL could presume you’re in “willful” violation of the overtime employee classification rules
• The proposed requirement for testing the effectiveness of safety procedures – and how your workers come into play with the monitoring duties
• How your business is subject to DOL inspections and investigations – and how to reduce your risks
• What you need to do now to ensure compliance and avoid violations

1:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Breakouts

Healthcare & Benefits Track

Cafeteria Plans 101: Employer Compliance Strategies for POP, FSAs and HSAs
Ben Conley (Orlando and Las Vegas)

Cafeteria plans, commonly referred to as Section 125 plans, and flexible spending accounts give employees a pre-tax way to pay for certain health-related and dependent-care expenses. Such plans are becoming very popular for employers of all sizes. While both employers and employees generally welcome the à la carte nature of these plans, you must aware of the design and compliance challenges you may face as you implement them. Join us for this fast-paced session, and learn:

• Plan design options to consider, including FSAs and health savings account contributions
• Why offering cafeteria plans may make the most sense for your organization, and how to initiate this process
• The most common compliance mistakes when implementing cafeteria plans generally and FSAs specifically
• Pros and cons of FSAs: What you and your employees need to understand
• Tips on how to communicate cafeteria plan benefits to your workforce to increase participation

Compliance Track

BYOD Challenges: When Employees Bring Their Own Devices to Work
Mario Bordogna (Orlando)
Elijah Yip (Las Vegas)

More and more, it’s becoming common for employees to use their personal computers, smartphones, and tablets to send and receive work-based communications and perform other work-related tasks. There’s even a catchy new acronym floating around: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device”). But there’s a downside to all of this high-tech connectedness – it’s much harder for you to keep confidential info confidential, and you can run into wage/hour issues when non-exempt employees log in and work on their own time. At this informative session, you’ll learn:

• How the relatively recent BYOD phenomenon is shaping e-monitoring and privacy in workplaces across the country
• The benefits of BYOD for both employer and employee
• Why it’s crucial to clearly and accurately communicate your organization’s expectations of device usage and hours to your workforce
• Policy language and implementation to help avoid wage and hour violations
• How to involve all the right stake holders, including IT, in the decision to allow BYOD
• Practical guidance on how to strike a balance between your organization’s security and access needs with your employees’ privacy expectations
• Training tips to make your BYOD policy stick

Compensation Track

Job Evaluations: Know What You Need and What You’re Paying For
Ron Keimach (Orlando and Las Vegas)

Job evaluations are key in that they allow employers to analyze jobs in terms of both salary and organizational fit. It is an important piece of your compensation administration if you want to ensure you’re paying fairly in relation to both internal and external benchmarks. But if you’re not already performing job evaluations, it can be difficult to figure out how to get rolling. Don’t despair – join us for this comprehensive session, and learn:

• How job evaluations can help with both compensation administration and employee retention
• Systematic strategies for determining the relative worth of the positions at your workplace
• Why external benchmarks are crucial, and how to get reliable data
• The basics of fully defensible pay systems
• How market pricing differs from job evaluations – and why the distinction matters
• The ins and outs of creating a Job Evaluation Plan (JEP)

Employment Law Hot Topics Track

Medical Marijuana at Work: Who Can Inhale, and When
Dinita James (Orlando and Las Vegas)

Currently, 18 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana usage for “qualified patients” – a term that each state defines differently. Marijuana is often prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of cancer, glaucoma, HIV, and other serious illnesses. But what are your rights as an employer when medical marijuana intersects with the workplace? Don’t miss this up-to-the-minute session, when you’ll learn:

• How federal laws affect your obligations regarding employees’ use of medical marijuana
• Federal mandates that impact medical marijuana usage in the workplace, including DOT regulations, the Drug Free Workplace Act for federal contractors, and OSHA general duty
• If and when you’re allowed to ask an employee if she is a state-permitted medical marijuana user
• Policy best practices that promote workplace safety
• How to accommodate a disabled employee’s use of medical marijuana under the ADA
• Tips for making sure your drug-testing policy complies with state law

2:45 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Breakouts

Healthcare & Benefits Track

The Ins and Outs of Domestic Partner Benefits
Ben Conley (Orlando and Las Vegas)

The rise in acceptance of same-sex domestic partnerships, both by law and by choice, has led to a lot of tricky challenges for HR managers who have to administer benefits programs. Who gets benefits -  and what benefits do they get? This session will answer all of your questions. You’ll learn:

• The benefits domestic partners are entitled to, under state and federal law
• Whether the legality – or illegality – of same-sex marriage in your state affects the benefits you must provide
• The documentation you may request to confirm the commencement, or termination, of a domestic partnership
• Whether domestic partners suffering from serious illnesses qualify as close family members for purposes of state and federal family leave laws
• Non-required but recommended practices relating to your policies on domestic partners

Compliance Track

How to Master I-9s, EEO-1s, and Other Recurring Recordkeeping Challenges
Jason Ritchie (Orlando)
Roger Tsai  & Deanna Brinkerhoff (Las Vegas)

They’re the forms that come up over and over, and that you dread because there are so many different ways to screw them up: I-9s. EEO-1s. Social Security “no match” letters. If you’re too stringent in your enforcement, you can get slapped with an illegal bias lawsuit from a disgruntled applicant or employee. But if you’re too lax, the federal government can come after you. Don’t miss this must-attend session, when we’ll explain how to triumph in this seemingly no-win situation. You’ll learn:

• Common I-9 mistakes – and how to avoid them
• What to do if an employee or applicant presents you with paperwork that just doesn’t look right
• How to properly respond to a Social Security “no-match” letter
• Which methods of data collection are the most legally compliant, and the most affordable, for EEO-1 purposes
• How to ensure you comply with employee privacy rules when dealing with paperwork that involves potentially sensitive race and/or national origin questions
• Best practices for avoiding both employee complaints and federal audits

Compensation Track

How to Tell If Pay-for-Performance Is Right for Your Organization
Katie Miller Busch and Stacey McClure (Orlando and Las Vegas)

Whether you’re new to compensation planning and design or you’re looking for a refresher on how to build a successful compensation strategy for your organization, it’s important to know what pay-for-performance is and what it is not.  Also, it’s important for you to gauge whether your organization is even ready for pay-for-performance. During this valuable session, you’ll learn:

• The pros and cons of adopting a pay-for-performance plan
• The types of organizations that tend to prosper with pay-for-performance plans — and the ones that don’t
• Causes and remedies for employee skepticism about merit-based pay
• Examples of ineffective plans that may actually de-motivate workers while wasting valuable time and money
• Key principles to establish a system of differentiated rewards
• Alternatives for determining pay increases, and how to position employee pay within an established salary range

Employment Law Hot Topics Track

NLRB Update: It’s Not Just for Unions Anymore
Kevin McCormick (Orlando)
Franck Wobst (Las Vegas)

Under President Obama, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been on a tear lately, opining on everything from social media to employees’ discussions about pay and more. And, of course, the traditional worries about unions forming at your workplace haven’t gone anywhere, either. During this timely session, we’ll explain:

• The latest status of challenges to the NLRB’s recent pro-employee rulings
• Why even non-union employers need to keep the NLRB on their radar these days
• Social media and employee communications policies that won’t land you in hot water with the NLRB
• How to legally – yet effectively – deflect a pro-union push at your workplace
• Why open channels of communication with employees can neutralize both union threats and disgruntled employees who blast your company on Facebook and their own blogs

Closing Keynote (Las Vegas)

4:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Changing HR Challenges in the New America
Mark Schickman

Mark Schickman of Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP has more than 30 years employment and labor law experience. He has litigated every type of employment matter and provided advice in avoiding liability for discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, union related charges and all other aspects of the employment relationship. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s select panel of employment arbitrators, a member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and is the Editor of the California Employment Law Letter.  During his impressive career, Mark has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the intricacies of labor and employment law. Join Mark during this closing session as he candidly shares his insights, including:

• The changing dynamics of the law and the workplace.
• The greatest threats facing employers
• How to change losing scenarios into winning strategies
• How technology is changing employment compliance and litigation

Closing Keynote (Orlando)
4:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: 10 Key Compliance Mistakes You Don’t Even Know You’re Making
Albert Vreeland

Al Vreeland, a founding member of Lehr Middlebrooks and Vreeland, P.C., has represented employers in the entire range of employment litigation—from Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, OSHA, and ERISA to claims under the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. His cases have ranged from the claims of a single disgruntled employee to statewide, regional, and nationwide attacks on his clients’ hiring, promotion, termination, pay and benefits practices. Al also defends his clients before state and federal appellate courts and frequently speaks and writes about employment law issues, including as editor of the Alabama Employment Law Letter and a contributing editor of the Alabama Employer’s Desk Manual. Join Al during this closing session as he candidly shares his insights on the preventive employment measures many employers fail to take so you can pinpoint several best practices for handling risk-laden employment decisions within your organizations, including:

• Common payroll deductions and other pay practices that result in big dollar FLSA exposure
• Confidentiality policies that conflict with an employee’s right to complain
• FLSA and health insurance traps with non-FMLA covered medical leave
• Failing to recognize a request for reasonable accommodation and short-circuiting the interactive process under the ADA
• Not seeing the red flag on potential retaliation claims before pulling the trigger

Main Conference, Day 2

Opening Keynote

8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Social Media for 2014 and Beyond: How to Reap The Benefits and Avoid the Risks
Francine Esposito (Orlando)
Elijah Yip (Las Vegas)

Social media is everywhere these days – both in and out of the office. For HR managers, it’s increasingly become an area in which you’re compelled to serve as both corporate guru and productivity police. But the lines can become blurry very fast. What’s the best way to utilize social media as a recruiting tool without crossing into illegal territory? And how can you keep an eye on what employees say about your company in public online spaces without inviting hashtag #lawsuit? Our lively session will cover these challenges and more, including:

• Why social media means you need to worry about the NLRB – even if you have no unionized workers and no threat of a union on the horizon
• The legal landmines that await you where social media and background checks intersect – and how to avoid them
• How to keep social media a useful part of your hiring strategy, rather than an attention-fragmenting, time-wasting distraction
• What you can – and can’t – restrict your employees from doing and saying on social media, on their own time
• Tips for keeping your trade secrets secret in an infinitely connected world
• How to walk the line between maintaining peak levels of employee productivity and cracking down as the morale-killing “keyboard police”

9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.: Breakouts

Healthcare & Benefits Track

Benefits Communications: How to Drive Transformative Change and Dramatically Boost Your ROI
Carla McCormick (Orlando and Las Vegas)

There’s no doubt about it: You’re shelling out a lot for benefits. With benefits accounting for 30% of compensation spending at most organizations, you want to make sure your ROI is as high as possible – and also that your employees know (and appreciate) just how much they’re getting from your program. This fast-paced session will use real-life case studies and examples to illustrate how effective benefits communications can transform your workforce into a healthier, more productive, more loyal team. You’ll learn:

• The most effective strategies for talking with your workers about their benefits—striking that happy medium between open communications and “over sharing”
• How to corral your managers (from C-suite executives to frontline supervisors) so that everyone’s using the same playbook when discussing benefits
• Proven methods for defusing complaints and handling misunderstandings about benefits issues
• What legal risks you face if you fail to communicate your benefits policies effectively
• The most common errors employers make with benefits communication issues—and how you can avoid repeating them

Compliance Track

ADA Accommodation Made Easy (Well, Easier)
Stacie Caraway (Orlando)
Jonathan Mook (Las Vegas)

As you well know, employers are required to engage in an “interactive process” with disabled employees to determine what reasonable accommodation, if any, will assist them in performing their job’s essential functions. But the EEOC provides very little real-world advice on exactly what that means, and many employers overlook the topic until an accommodation request is staring them in the face. Don’t wait until the last minute – join us for this informative session, and learn:

• How and when to engage in the interactive process, and how to do so in a way that will pass muster with the EEOC)
• IME do’s and don’ts
• Working at home as a reasonable accommodation
• Strategies for handling drug and alcohol abuse and treatment scenarios
• What specific considerations to take into account when handling psychological and mental disabilities
• Which accommodations are still considered reasonable in the eyes of the EEOC – and which are not
• How the flow of information to and from workers’ compensation and short-term disability administrators operates – and where you as an employer fit in
• When it makes sense to offer an accommodation even if you’re not legally required to and how to do this without obligating yourself to do so for everyone

Compensation Track

Compensation Litigation: Valuable Lessons From the Latest Court Cases
Al Vreeland (Orlando)
Deanna Brinkerhoff (Las Vegas)

Equal pay, wage/hour violations, allegations of unfair compensation systems: There’s no question that employees are passionate about their pay, and more than willing to sue their employer when a perceived injustice occurs. In this eye-opening session, we’ll examine some recent lawsuits and explain the takeaways that can keep you out of the headlines in the future. You’ll learn:

• Why “equal pay” isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds
• The recurring wage/hour problems that bedevil employers over and over – and tips for breaking the cycle at your workplace
• Why compensation complaints can tend to lead to class actions rather than mere individual lawsuits
• How even a well-designed, superficially fair compensation system can wind up being discriminatory – and how to avoid this
• The newest compensation-related traps on the horizon for employers

Employment Law Hot Topics Track

Immigration Reform 2013: Current Status and Compliance Strategies
Roger Tsai (Orlando)
Elaine Young (Las Vegas)

When it comes to immigration enforcement, no employer is immune from immigration scrutiny. An organization that ignores problems with its procedures designed to keep a legal workforce is risking ruinous fines and penalties. You have a duty to hire workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States – but you also have a duty not to discriminate. During this informative session, you’ll learn:

• Your obligations as an employer to ensure that your workers are legally authorized to work in the United States
• The current status of immigration reform efforts, and how to be sure you’re in legal compliance
• How to get the info you need from employees and applicants without opening yourself up to a national origin bias lawsuit
• The stiff criminal and civil penalties you face if your immigration enforcement obligations aren’t met
• What to do when you discover that a current employee may not be in the country legally
• How to balance the investigatory burdens placed on you by the feds with your employees’ rights to privacy and a non-discriminatory workplace

11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Breakouts

Healthcare & Benefits Track

Value-Based Benefits Design (VBDD): A Cost-Containment Opportunity for Employers
Carla McCormick (Orlando and Las Vegas)

Many wellness programs offer employee incentives that are too small to make a real difference in their overall health. Nobody’s going to quit smoking over the prospect of a free coffee mug, alas. Value-Based Benefits Design (VBDD) seeks to change this by offering employees real value for improving their lifestyle and behaviors – which means real cost savings for you. During this informative session, you’ll learn:

• How insurance premium differentials can bring about a significant improvement in employee health, as well as your bottom line
• Why small incentives tend to bring about small – or nonexistent – changes
• How to build disincentives into your benefit plan, and the big advantages for doing so
• The lowest dollar figure that still incentivizes employees (it may be higher than you think)
• Dramatic ways to bring about real change, including the conditions you can impose on employees before they’re eligible to participate in your most appealing benefits plan
• Steps that even smaller employers can take to make a big difference in their benefits bottom line

Compliance Track

Wage/Hour Spotlight: In-Depth Compliance Strategies
Kara Shea (Las Vegas and Orlando)

No matter how long you’ve been in HR, wage/hour issues are likely the source of some of your biggest headaches and sleepless nights. And it’s no wonder: The rules are nit-picky, complicated, and unforgiving—even if you have the best of intentions, you can still get slammed with mammoth fines and devastating lawsuits. But don’t despair: Help is here in the form of this intensive session, when you’ll learn:

• The most common (and costly) wage/hour mistakes, and how to avoid them
• What to do if you discover you’ve misclassified a worker (or many workers)—your first instinct may not be the right one
• How to correctly calculate overtime, every time
• Best practices for recording employees’ time worked
• What to do if you find yourself the target of a DOL investigation
• How to handle tricky situations like on-call/waiting time, overtime for IT workers, travel pay, and more

Compensation Track

Total Rewards: Designing Effective Yet Budget-Friendly Recognition Programs
Ron Keimach (Orlando and Las Vegas)

Almost 90 percent of U.S. employers offer employee recognition programs, according to a recent national survey – and it’s a good idea. With the improving economy, your stars are starting to look elsewhere for other opportunities, and you need to set yourself apart in order to keep them on board and happy. Join us for this idea-packed session, when you’ll learn:

• Best practices for recognizing and rewarding workers in today’s environment
• How to evaluate your current programs to gauge their effectiveness versus their cost
• The most reliable methods of gauging the bottom-line value of recognition programs, as well as tips for communicating that value throughout your organization
• The do’s and don’ts of implementing new types of rewards and recognition that your workers actually want to receive—and the traditional rewards that, surprisingly, are still very effective today
• How to manage rewards and recognitions for workers at varying organizational levels, in different offices, and across age ranges (from Boomers to Millennials)

Employment Law Hot Topics Track

Guns at Work: How to Keep Your Employees Safe
Charlie Plumb (Las Vegas and Orlando)

The recent rash of gun violence at workplaces – and, particularly tragically, schools – around the country has left employers in a state of shock, and wondering how best to protect their workers and customers from future assaults. This task has been made even more complicated by the introduction of “guns-at-work” legislation in various states that would permit employees to leave guns in their cars (parked in employer-owned parking lots) during the work day. What’s the best way to keep everyone safe? Find out at this important session, when we’ll explain:

• The details and status of proposed “guns-at-work” legislation around the country
• Your rights to restrict guns in your workplace, regardless of an employee’s or customer’s legal right to carry a weapon (concealed or otherwise)
• How to protect your workplace from the potential spill-over of domestic violence
• Tips for ensuring that terminations don’t turn explosive
• “Red flags” to watch for that could indicate a possibility of future violence
• The emergency plan to have in place in the event a gun emergency erupts at your organization

12:15 p.m.-1:15 p.m.: Closing Panel
Stacie Caraway (Orlando)
Jonathan Mook (Las Vegas)
Charlie Plumb (Las Vegas and Orlando)
Kara Shea (Las Vegas and Orlando)


Lunchtime Wrap-Up: Your Last-Minute Questions Answered!

Relax over a delicious lunch with your fellow attendees and the chance to get any lingering questions answered by our expert panel of speakers. Even if you don’t have a question, you’ll be sure to gain additional insights before you start your journey home.


1:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Grand Prize Drawing & Conference Wrap-Up