What makes our programs so special?
We offer a variety of interactive training programs to HR teams, managers, supervisors, and other key executives on crucial workplace compliance areas. We train them on being more aware and knowledgeable on how to handle and address employee issues, while also mitigating risk.
One of the main objectives that underscores all our trainings is to foster better real time communication between managers and human resources to help them work more in sync with each other.
A major feature of the trainings that the participants find so engaging is the real-life scenarios portraying either HR Directors, managers, or, of course, employees. These short scenes are integrated into the training sessions to stimulate learning through interactive discussions. Following each vignette, participants are grouped into smaller breakout sessions to analyze the scenario, and then reconvene for a collective discussion with all attendees and the training team. This interactive approach is highly valued by participants, who appreciate both the engagement and the practical insights gained from the vignettes.
All of the below live training programs can be Zoom-based or in-person.
- Winning Documentation Strategies for Managers, Supervisors and Other Leadership
This tactical and engaging workshop gives your leadership team the best tools to regularly chronicle employee performance and manage disciplinary issues. These areas are crucial to enhance productivity and better protect against liability.
Clearly communicating expectations to employees and documenting an employee’s failure to perform should be considered one of management’s top functions. Effective communication helps to avoid situations where employees are surprised by a termination – which is often the impetus for them filing lawsuits. Creating a paper trail can provide an employer with invaluable evidence to support a defense against such claims. Additionally, it may help to improve an employee’s performance, creating a “win-win” for employers who can move forward with a higher-performing employee, and save on resources they would otherwise spend to replace a position.
Detailed instructions on the “when, where and how” of managing and documenting employee performance, as well as specific hands-on exercises on how to write up employees for disciplinary problems are all part of a learning experience that actively teaches leaders these skills, as opposed to them passively fulfilling a training requirement.
Some items discussed include:
• How to have regular and meaningful discussions with employees – which are both firm and empathetic.
• When and how to involve Human Resources on these issues.
• When and how to draft, deliver and document disciplinary issues.
• How to regularly document employees’ performance– not just at performance review time.
• How do you create a successful Performance Improvement?
• How to create documentation that is clear, legally-sound and sets the stage for potential future conversations about performance.
• How to prepare for a key meeting with an employee. - Proper Handling of Employee Termination and Safe and Successful Hiring Practices.
a. TERMINATIONS
Now more than ever, employers need to understand the laws regulating firings and layoffs and how to prevent wrongful termination lawsuits. Managers should not fire employees without proper reasons and documentation, regardless of the perceived legalities of such actions. In this timely program, the legal risks facing employers when terminating employees will be outlined, and practical steps will be offered on how to mitigate or avoid these risks.
Some items discussed include:
• What should be involved in the decision to terminate?
• Can you really fire someone without a reason?
• What are the biggest termination mistakes?
• What happens during a wrongful termination lawsuits?
• What should and shouldn’t take place at an exit interview?
• What documentation is needed to support a termination?
• Decisions about severance and separation agreements
• Notice and final pay requirements
b. HIRING
As most employers have learned, making good hiring decisions is the best way to avoid terminations and employment problems in the long run. What employers may not know is that there are now many legal issues involved in the pre-hire screening and background check process. This program provides a clear understanding of how to avoid risk in the process of selecting, screening and hiring new employees.
Some items discussed include:
• Legal pitfalls of bad hiring decisions
• Discrimination in hiring – disparate impact vs. disparate treatment
• Legal limitations in recruiting (job postings, AI tools, etc.)
• Interview dos and don’ts that hope to avoid discrimination
• Background checks – limitations from FCRA
• References – legal limitations
• Pre-employment tests (personality, physical) and related hazards - Supervisor Training on Anti-Harassment, Anti-Discrimination and Reasonable Accommodation in the Workplace
A. HARASSMENT
In this moment of heightened harassment assertions in corporations and government hitting the news, it is important for companies to educate their managers on how to help prevent harassment claims to avoid being the next headline. In defending these claims, we have found managers often do not fully understand the importance of these issues, don’t know how to identify them, or are simply ill‐equipped to deal with them. There is also the possibility that managers can be held personally liable, alongside the company. Companies need to do everything they can to mitigate the risks of potential claims. In response, we can facilitate a customized, interactive harassment prevention training designed to stick in the minds of your managers and mitigate litigation risk.
Some items discussed include:
• What are the different types of harassment?
• Who can commit harassment?
• What is the role of the manager?
• How do you handle a complaint?
• Can you ensure confidentiality?
• What happens in an investigation process?
• What should be included in a company policy?
B. DISCRIMINATION AND ACCOMMODATION
Oftentimes, managers do not fully understand the requirements for all protected classes under federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws, and how each should be accommodated, unless there is an undue hardship to the company. Yet, it is a manager’s role to implement and enforce its company’s anti-discrimination and accommodation policies. If employee requests are not formally addressed properly, an employee may feel they may be discriminated against by the manager and company, which could potentially turn into them filing an employment lawsuit. Our interactive training educates managers about the types of protected classes, expected accommodations, their roles including how to respond to employee requests, and when to include HR.
• How do you identify discrimination?
• What are some of the protected classes?
• What is a reasonable accommodation?
• What are the legal requirements for providing reasonable accommodation?
• What is an undue hardship?
• What documentation is necessary?
Customized Interactive Training Programs
Elements from each of the above listed trainings, as well as other employment law topics, can be used to create a customized and interactive program based on a company’s particular needs. Before a training is designed, we will have an initial and deep discussion about issues and requirements which will help define the curriculum.
*HR Legal Workshops
We know that empowered business leaders and HR professionals, armed with the right knowledge and training, can make all the difference in protecting their company’s operations, employee relations, and culture, while helping to manage litigation risk.
What if getting there could be fun and engaging rather than boring and obligatory?
We offer master classes with the most sophisticated training leaders who have been in the trenches as employment lawyers and know the practical risks, along with related experts and other guests on topics relevant to today’s workplace. Our course leaders are renowned for their ability to engage audiences, give straight answers to complicated employment questions, and utilize unique approaches to effectively equip business leaders and HR professionals with the knowledge and experience to navigate complex workplace scenarios.
We’ve thrown out boring case studies and instead use unique approaches like video vignettes using Broadway actors improvising workplace scenarios to demonstrate what to do–and not to do–when handling complicated workplace scenarios. And we take a workshop approach, breaking participants into small groups to engage in hands on learning among peer groups with similar experience levels.
- Terminating Employees Without Lawsuits
- Winning Documentation Strategies for Discipline and Performance
- Legal Issues in Hiring Employees
- Understanding the Employee Leave Laws and How They Interact – (FMLA, ADA, etc.)
- Substance Use and Abuse – What Can You Do?
- Wage & Hour (overtime) Compliance
- Protecting Against the Loss of Key Personnel and Customer Information to Competitors
- Independent Contractor and Employee - Understanding the Difference
- Workplace Violence and Employee Theft – What Can You Do?
- Using Your Culture to Manage and Fire Toxic, Yet High Performing Employees
- Sexual Harassment and Other Forms of Harassment – Compliance Workshop
- Challenges in Managing a Remote Workforce
- Reasonable Accommodation and Disability Oriented Discrimination
- Challenges in Managing Today’s Salesforce - HR Issues You Need to Understand
- Privacy in the Workplace. Can You Spy on Your Workers?
- Can An Employer Monitor and/or Regulate Employee Personal Social Media Use?
- HR Compliance with Artificial Intelligence Technology
- How to Conduct an Internal Investigation
