Presentation Descriptions:

How Can it be None of My Business When I’m Trying to Run One?
by Mary Pat Ninneman in Milwaukee and Lauri Morris and Alexis Pheiffer in Madison

What can you ask your employees about their medical records?   Is their behavior in the bar after work really off limits?  When and under what circumstances can you monitor their e-mails and phone calls?  What are you entitled to know and why?  We’ll answer these and other questions involving the complicated and expanding law of privacy so that when an employee tells you that you’re invading her space, you’ll know whether you can gently remind her that it is actually your space, too. 

Why Aren’t Green Cards Green?
by Ben Kurten in Milwaukee and Madison

And why do you turn red when trying to comply with the new regulations governing your treatment of foreign workers?  We’ll provide the highlights of the new immigration regulations, including how to ensure I‑9 compliance, prepare labor certification applications and wade through the new filing fees for H-1Bs and L-1s that affect your company.  This is a sure fire remedy for those immigration law blues!

Does Administering the FMLA Create a Serious Health Condition?
by Pam Ploor in Milwaukee and Lauri Morris in Madison

Employee requests for leave got you down?   Don't know whether to approve the leave requests or make your own request for a medical leave?  If so, the prescription for you is to attend this session, which will give you practical advice on how to manage your FMLA-induced stress.  Our treatment will include a discussion of recent cases and issues, including the status of the long-anticipated revision of the FMLA regulations.  Don't wait to sign up, because early diagnosis and treatment is the best medicine. 

My Employee’s Severance Package  Has What Tax Consequences?
by Amy Ciepluch in Milwaukee and Madison

The December 2004 employee benefits law changes may apply in the strangest places --including employment separation agreements and numerous provisions within your company’s retirement plans.  This session will cover this and other new legal traps in ERISA and USERRA that can ensnare even the most experienced employee benefits managers.

E-Mail:  It Kills No Trees, But it Could Harm Your Business!
by Bob Duffy and Autumn Kruse in Milwaukee and Fred Gants and Lauri Morris in Madison

The discharge letter, personnel records and termination interview all confirm that Tom was discharged for work performance deficiencies.  So do most of the e‑mails, except for one or two in which Tom’s manager suggested that Tom was “a worker’s compensation nightmare waiting to happen.”  Tom’s lawyers just filed an ADA claim and insist on seeing all electronic communication concerning Tom’s employment.  Feeling a little nervous?  Wish you could take a long hard drive off a short cliff—or hit delete to escape your trouble?  This session will provide a fully stocked archive of suggestions to keep e‑mail from coming back to byte your company.

My Worker’s Compensation Insurance Doesn’t Cover That?
by Steve Burk in Milwaukee and Alexis Pheiffer in Madison

Sally filed a worker’s compensation claim concerning a back injury that kept her from returning to work.  Your worker’s compensation carrier insists that your company is responsible for defending this claim (and paying any penalty awarded) due to the company’s delay in reporting the claim, failure to maintain a safe workplace and refusal to rehire Sally.  Feeling like you missed the fine print in the insurance contract or the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Act?  We’ll provide practical advice on how to keep worker’s compensation penalty claims from becoming a problem at your company.

What Do You Mean I Owe My Lead Worker Overtime?
By Mike Aldana and Sean Scullen in Milwaukee and Fred Gants and Sean Scullen in Madison

Now that the Bush Administration’s FLSA regulations are effective, employers are in the clear, right?  Not quite.  In 2004 alone, the Wage and Hour Division recovered $196 million in back wages from employers as well as $10 million in civil penalties for wage and hour violations.  Catch up on the latest developments in wage and hour law, including what Wisconsin businesses need to do to comply with applicable state and federal laws, and learn how to survive -- or better yet, avoid -- a Department of Labor audit.

Desperate HR Managers!
by Ely Leichtling, Judi Williams and Alexis Pheiffer in Milwaukee and by Mike Fischer, Judi Williams and Alexis Pheiffer in Madison

So, the housewives from Wisteria Lane think they know “desperate?”  Nothing they experience can hold a candle to the pressures faced by human resource managers every day -- in situations that can affect the work life of multiple people and the productivity of your company.  Join us and we'll help you work through a tangled web of employment issues that may have you feeling “desperate.”  We’ll even offer a skit or two (or three) in the process.  Emmy winning performances guaranteed!