Morris County SHRM's 7th Annual Employment Law Symposium Examines Myriad Workplace Issues

Author: Ashley Shaw, XpertHR Legal Editor

July 29, 2014

On Thursday, July 24, the Morris County Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (MC SHRM) held its seventh annual Employment Law Symposium, presented in collaboration with Fisher Phillips. The symposium was led by several distinguished Fisher Phillips attorneys, who covered many of the employment issues plaguing the HR world today. Some of the issues discussed included preservation of emails, bullying, background checks, mediation, workplace investigations, wage and hour issues and inappropriate workplace behavior.

The one-day conference, sponsored by XpertHR, along with Tabb Inc. and giftaday, presented myriad employment law and best practice overviews geared, in part, toward New Jersey employers and HR professionals. The last session of the day, presented by David Lichtenberg, Partner in Fisher Phillips' New Jersey Office and Vice President for Legislation for MC SHRM, directly dealt with recent cases and new and upcoming laws within New Jersey.

In addition to the New Jersey update, the conference offered a wide range of valuable information for employers all around the country. In the first session, "She Said What?!? Effective Workplace Investigations," led by Celia Joseph, Of Counsel in the Philadelphia office, the audience learned how to handle a workplace complaint from inception to resolution. In one of the later sessions, "Workplace Safety Best Practices," John V. Scully, Vice President of Human Resources for County Concrete Corporation, explained the importance of having a workplace safety plan.

In a session led by Kathleen McLeod Caminiti, Partner in the New Jersey Office, attendees had the opportunity to learn about current hot topics in wage and hour law. Caminiti noted in her presentation that over 50,000 FLSA lawsuits have been filed since the year 2000 - 7,882 of which were filed last year alone. Caminiti attributed the large number of claims in this area to the large number of wage and hour violations that have been occurring. Accordingly, Caminiti advised employers to be extra careful that they are not violating any of the wage and hour laws.

Rosemary S. Gousman, Regional Managing Partner in the New Jersey Office, led a discussion on background checks. Handling these checks correctly is a matter of high importance, Gousman lectured, because a single complaint can lead to a systemic investigation. To respond to such an investigation, an employer needs a lot of resources, which can lead to high monetary settlements. In order to avoid these suits, Gousman advised against an employer having a blanket policy of not hiring individuals with convictions and wording application questions carefully.

Colleen P. Tandy, Of Counsel in the New Jersey Office, discussed how an employer should handle inappropriate workplace behavior, which may require the employer to engage in an embarrassing conversation with an employee and make difficult decisions. These behaviors range from use of recreational and medicinal marijuana to the display of tattoos and the presence of body odor. While an employer has the right to ban certain behavior from the workplace or require employees to perform certain actions, Tandy noted that having workplace policies that are in writing, not vague and adaptable to the inclusion of exceptions, when required, will help an employer avoid discriminatory situations.

There was a lot of energy and excitement in the room as HR professionals ate, laughed and networked throughout the day. Hats off to MC SHRM and Fisher Phillips for hosting a truly successful event. We here at XpertHR were thrilled to be a sponsor.