HR In Depth - Legal Seminars Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Wage and Hour Compliance Tuesday, March 11, 2008 How to Effectively Manage Protected Leaves of Absence and the Reasonable Accommodation Process Tuesday, March 18, 2008 How to Properly Hire, Fire, and Discipline Employees Tuesday, March 25, 2008 Workplace Investigations: Conducting Them Effectively with a Litigation Perspective

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Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Wage and Hour Compliance
Robin E. Weideman, Carlton DiSante & Freudenberger LLP

With California’s employment litigation climate continuing to be predominated by wage and hour claims against employers, this session will provide guidance on common wage and hour pitfalls and hot areas for claims by employees. This session will also provide useful advice and tips for compliance with California’s unique wage and hour laws.

Robin E. Weideman is a partner in the Sacramento office of Carlton DiSante & Freudenberger LLP.  Ms. Weideman represents employers in various types of employment litigation, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour matters, and unfair competition matters.  Ms. Weideman also regularly advises employers on day-to-day employee relations matters and litigation prevention.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
How to Effectively Manage Protected Leaves of Absence and the Reasonable Accommodation Process
Jennifer Brown Shaw, Esq., Shaw Valenza LLP

The interplay between disability discrimination and leave of absence laws creates the biggest headaches for human resources professionals.  Learn the basic legal principles and how to apply them to real-world situations.  What is an “interactive process”?  What are essential job functions?  When can you stop granting extension after extension when an employee is on a leave of absence?  What about workers’ compensation?  What about short-term disability?  

Jennifer Shaw, a gifted speaker and expert employment law attorney, will unravel it all.  You will leave the seminar with practical tools to use, including checklist, charts, resources for finding accommodation ideas, and more!

Jennifer Shaw’s practice at Shaw Valenza LLP includes providing regular advice and counsel on workplace issues to numerous private and public sector employers.  She also develops and presents seminars for management and non-supervisory employees on subjects such as respect and professionalism in the workplace, sexual harassment prevention, Assembly Bill 1825 compliance, diversity, managing protected leaves of absence, ethics for public officials (Assembly Bill 1234), wage-hour compliance, and workplace violence prevention.  In addition, Jennifer regularly conducts independent internal investigations for employers.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
How to Properly Hire, Fire, and Discipline Employees
Monica Hans and Shaye Harrington, Downey Brand LLP

An employer’s obligations under federal and state employment laws begin the moment the employer determines a need to hire an employee.  This seminar will assist in understanding both these obligations and the complex legal pitfalls encountered in every step of the employment process, from advertising a position to sending an offer letter to terminating an employee.  By the end of the presentation, you’ll learn:

• How to advertise for and obtain employees, including issues employers face when recruiting competitors’ employees

• How to properly conduct interviews, handle references, and obtain background checks

• What employers are required to report regarding the hiring process

• What procedures to follow when disciplining employees

• How to terminate employees

Monica Hans is an attorney in Downey Brand LLP’s Labor and Employment Group in Sacramento.  She represents public and private employers in litigation and counsels them on a variety of labor and employment law issues, including but not limited to discrimination and harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage and hour violations.

Shaye Harrington is an attorney in Downey Brand LLP’s Labor and Employment Group in Sacramento.  She represents employers in litigation involving employment discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage and hour violations. Ms. Harrington also provides advice and counsel to employers regarding compliance with state and federal laws, conducts workplace investigations, and prepares employee handbooks.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Workplace Investigations: Conducting Them Effectively With A Litigation Perspective
William Muñoz and Kerri Ruzicka, Murphy, Pearson, Bradley

Workplace investigations can be difficult to do effectively and in a manner that will objectively withstand judicial scrutiny.  The decision to conduct an investigation and the subsequent decisions as to how the investigation should be conducted and who should conduct it will all impact whether the courts will look favorably upon an employer faced with allegations of discrimination. 

This program is designed to educate HR professionals on the best practices for conducting workplace investigations and provide general advice on conducting unbiased objective investigations to help ensure compliance and minimize risk. 

Some of the topics that will be discussed in this seminar include:

• Determining when a workplace investigation is warranted

• Choosing the best person to conduct the investigation

• Planning the investigation

• Gathering and evaluating the evidence

• Keeping the investigation confidential

• Documenting the investigation

• Proper techniques for following up after the investigation and

• How to avoid common mistakes made in investigations

Attendees of this program will be up to date on all the material developments and case law in the area of workplace investigations and will be in a much better position to advise their employers on whether to conduct an investigation and ways to make it the most effective and properly managing risks in this area.

William Muñoz is a partner with Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney where he practices complex civil and commercial litigation in state and federal court, including professional liability and labor and employment claims.  Mr. Munoz has been practicing law for ten years. 

Mr. Muñoz is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of California, and the Federal District Courts of California for the Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Muñoz also serves as a Dispute Resolution Conference Judge for El Dorado County Superior Court.

Kerri Ruzicka is an associate attorney with Murphy, Pearson, Bradley and Feeney where she represents clients in civil and business litigation before state and federal courts with an emphasis in labor and employment law. 

Ms. Ruzicka is admitted to practice before all California state courts, as well as the federal courts for the Eastern District of California. She is also a member of the Labor and Employment sections of the California and Sacramento County Bar Associations, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Sacramento Association of Human Resource Administrators.

Click here to register

Cancellations must be received in writing by the SAHRA office 72 business hours prior to the event in order to receive a refund.  You may send an associate to take your place if a cancellation has not been made. "No Shows” will be billed if cancellations are not received.

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Folsom, CA 95630
Phone: 916-451-9031
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