38th Annual Employment Law Symposium

Location

Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, Utah

Agenda

7 to 8 a.m. – Registration and Breakfast

8 to 8:20 a.m. – Welcome Remarks from SHRM and Parsons Behle & Latimer

·        10-minute break

Breakout 1: 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

·        15-minute break

Breakout 2: 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

·        15-minute break

Breakout 3: 11 a.m. to noon

·        30-minute break

Keynote and Lunch: 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. 

Continuing Education

Four hours of Utah CLE approved. SHRM PDC and HRCI recertification credit hours pending.

REGISTER HERE

Breakout 1 Sessions

Social Media, Free Speech and Employer Liability

Balancing employee free speech rights with employers’ rights (and needs) to manage their workplaces is becoming increasingly complex. Add in a social media environment that allows employees to express their various beliefs far and wide, and the result is a legal minefield for employers. This session will help you understand employer and employee rights (in both public and private sectors), identity potential legal risks and ensure your policies are clear, compliant and enforceable.

• Presenters – Paul R. Smith and Mark D. Tolman 

The Power of the Paper Trail

Companies benefit from consistent, clear documentation of employee issues – especially in front of a jury. Elena and Liz will walk you through best practices for creating, maintaining and using documents to protect from employee claims.

• Presenters – Liz M. Mellem and Elena T. Vetter

ICE Raids, I-9 Audits, E-Verify and Business Immigration

What employers need to know about immigration enforcement activities, I-9 self-audits and ICE inspections, E-Verify and the current state of employment-based applications, including the new H-1B rules.

• Presenter – Lewis M. Francis

Breakout 2 Sessions

Investigations: Lessons from the Trenches

Recent court cases demonstrate how critical employment investigations are to protecting a company from a large jury verdict. Using these cases as background, Christina and Susan will discuss elements of a defensible and effective investigation so that you can confidently minimize your company’s legal exposure.

• Presenters – Christina M. Jepson and Susan Baird Motschiedler 

Non-Competes on the Brink of Extinction: How HR Teams Keep IP and Relationships Safe in a Populist Era 

Your C-suite expects you to safeguard the company’s relationships, confidences and trade secrets. For decades, HR teams have done that through non-competes. But state and federal laws chip away at non-competes every year. And those laws aren’t always forward-looking: some lawmakers have an appetite for wiping out non-competes that are already signed. With those threats on the horizon, how can you keep your company’s IP and relationships safe? Paul and Mike will discuss extinction-level threats to non-competes and alternatives for protecting what matters most to your company.

• Presenters – Michael Judd and Paul R. Smith 

Threading the Needle: How to Find the Middle Ground and Avoid Tricky Employment Law Traps  

Employment law is full of gray areas. That’s why lawyers’ favorite refrain (and response to most questions) is: “It depends!” Join Elena, Haley and Corey to review the latest caselaw and explore potential pitfalls in areas ranging from ADA accommodations to investigations and discrimination. You’ll come away with an understanding of how to thread the needle in a variety of HR contexts, including hiring, discipline, termination and more.

• Presenters – Elena T. Vetter, Haley B. Banks and Corey Hunter 

Breakout 3 Sessions

“Don’t Be the Test Case” -- Developments in Accommodation Requirements under the ADA, Title VII, and the PWFA 

Liz and Sean will talk about surprising developments and lessons learned in the ever-complex matrix of accommodating disabilities, religion and pregnancy in the workplace. 

• Presenters – Liz M. Mellem and Sean A. Monson 

HR: Culture Coach or Compliance Cop? 

In this lively, interactive session, two former Utah State Bar "Employment Lawyers of the Year" will address HR's compliance and claim prevention role. In this entertaining session, hear the differing opinions of our two presenters– one who is dealing with legal issues today and one who last dealt with issues 15 years ago. Some disagreement should be expected!

Topics will include risk management, documentation, internal investigations, discipline and discharge. Bring your popcorn and favorite beverage and tune in for what will surely be an entertaining and enlightening conversation!

• Presenters – Jathan Janove and Michael Patrick O’Brien, moderated by Michael Judd  

Ask Us Anything (About Employment Law):

In this session, you can pick the brains of members of our employment team with your burning employment questions. The topics for this presentation will be whatever the audience requests. And the best part is, you’ll never receive a bill! You are welcome to ask our panelists questions from the prior breakout sessions you attended or whatever else is on your mind about employment law. But a little disclaimer: as with our other breakout sessions, this session is not legal advice, so the panelists will assume that all questions are purely hypothetical.   

·      Presenters – Christina M. Jepson and Mark D. Tolman 

Keynote and lunch:

Keynote speaker Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. – President and CEO of SHRM

REGISTER HERE