Employment Law Update

2022 Employment Law Update

Thursday, February 17 and Friday, February 18, 2022

The past year was filled with unexpected twists and turns for employers and more are expected. Join us for MRA’s premier annual Employment Law Update, when we will explore the trends that are here to stay and the legal implications for businesses. Hear from expert attorneys on how to remain compliant when hiring in a tight labor market, efficiently administer leaves of absence, create and update post-COVID policies and handbooks, effectively manage remote workers, and how to recognize and react to protected activity. Gain critical insight into managing vaccination exemptions and mandates, and how the Infrastructure Bill will impact employers.

Join us virtually on February 17 and 18, for two half days of employment law updates to help you stay ahead of key changes that impact your business.

NEW This Year:
The first 500 registrants will receive a conference gift in the mail. In the registration confirmation email, please be sure to click the link in that email to provide us with your best mailing address so you don’t miss out on this special reward.

6.75 credits applied for the main conference.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Time	Session	Speaker
8:30 - 8:40 a.m.	Welcome	Susan Fronk, MRA
8:40 - 9:40 a.m.	Session 1: 2022 Federal and State Legal Update Sponsored by:	Christine Liu McLaughlin, Godfrey & Kahn (WI)
9:40 - 10:25 a.m.	Session 2a: Navigating the Bermuda Triangle of FMLA, ADA, and Workers’ Compensation Leave	Elizabeth Odian, Michael Best (WI)
	Session 2b: Can I Ask That?	Joel Aziere, Buelow Vetter (WI)
10:25 - 10:40 a.m.	Break
10:40 - 11:25 a.m.	Session 3a: Employee Pay Practices—Staying Competitive and Compliant in 2022	Kelly Petrocelli, Faegre Drinker (IL)
	Session 3b: Bring it Back to the Basics	Oyvind Wistrom & Laurie Petersen, Lindner Marsack (WI)
11:25 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.	Ask the Attorney – Panel Discussion	Multiple
12:25 - 12:30 p.m.	Closing Remarks	Emcee, MRA

Friday, February 18, 2022

*Dates and times are subject to change.

State-Specific Legislative Updates:

State-specific 2022 legislative updates will be sent to all attendees ahead of the conference.

Wisconsin	Judith Williams-Killackey, Quarles & Brady
Minnesota	Bill Egan, Avisen Legal
Illinois	Rob Bernstein, Laner Muchin	Sponsored by:
Iowa	Terri Davis, Shuttleworth & Ingersoll

State Legislative Updates

2022 Minnesota Legislative Update
Bill Egan, Avisen Legal, P.A.

Bill Egan, an experienced employment law attorney at Avisen Legal, P.A., will present a 2022 Minnesota legislative update. Bill will discuss expanded workplace protections for new and expectant parents, changes to the Minnesota Human Rights Act regarding reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, and current developments on unemployment compensation and wage and hour laws and regulations. Bill will review the current status of Minnesota laws regarding COVID-19 mitigation mandates and recommendations for the workplace. You will also learn more about legislation affecting the workplace that is likely to be addressed by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2022 session.

2022 Wisconsin Legislative Update
Judith Williams-Killackey, Quarles & Brady

This session will focus on COVID-related mandates affecting Wisconsin employers, legislative changes that Wisconsin employers should be aware of, and recent cases affecting Wisconsin employers.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understanding COVID-related mandates affecting Wisconsin employers.
2. Awareness of recent legislative changes affecting Wisconsin employers.

Day 1 Sessions

Session 1: 2022 Federal and State Legal Update

Christine Liu McLaughlin, Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.

This session will cover new federal priorities and actions, federal agency actions, federal legislation, and Wisconsin and neighboring state updates. The session will also include a case law roundup that will highlight interesting and important labor and employment court decisions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Know and understand important federal and state labor and employment legal developments.
2. Identify employer priorities for 2022 based on the latest labor and employment legal developments.

Sponsored by:

Session 2A: Navigating the Bermuda Triangle of FMLA, ADA, and Workers’ Compensation Leave

Elizabeth Odian, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

Navigating employee leave under the FMLA, ADA, and workers’ compensation laws is tricky enough. So when an employee’s leave falls under more than one of the laws, employers must proceed carefully. In this session, attendees will learn when each law applies, the employer’s obligations under each law, when the laws overlap, and how to manage leave when more than one law applies. Attendees will also receive tips on how to manage situations where they expect an employee is abusing leave.

Attendees should leave with an understanding of:

1. when each law applies and what the employer’s resulting obligations are.
2. how to manage leave while reducing risk to the organization.

Session 2B: Can I Ask That? How to Obtain the Information You Need from Applicants and Employees Without Violating Discrimination and Privacy Laws

Joel Aziere, Buelow Vetter Buikema Olson & Vliet

Every employer needs a variety of information from applicants and its own employees in order to make sound employment decisions and efficiently operate. Some of this information is even necessary to ensure the individual is legally able to be employed, such as age and citizenship status. However, asking a job applicant whether he/she is a U.S. citizen can expose you to a discrimination complaint. Instead, ask whether the applicant is legally eligible for employment in the U.S. All the information an employer actually needs can be obtained—it just needs to be obtained in the proper manner.

In this session, we will:

1. Identify appropriate and inappropriate questions to pose to employees and applicants.
2. Identify the types of information employers should seek from employees and applicants.
3. Identify techniques that may be used to obtain the information employers need without creating a possible discrimination claim.

Session 3A: Employee Pay Practices—Staying Competitive and Compliant in 2022

Kelly Petrocelli, Faegre Drinker

Businesses are feeling the impact of the pandemic on multiple fronts, including when recruiting and retaining talent. Staying competitive is essential and has led some employers to increase starting salaries for new hires and offer a complement of retention and referral bonuses to existing staff, each of which may impact pay practices with respect to overtime and pay equity. Businesses also have been forced to evaluate performance bonus structures in a time when unexpected absences related to a COVID-19 diagnosis, quarantine protocols, and the closure of schools and day cares are on the rise. Moreover, job duties of some positions may have changed over the past 22 months, such that a job classified as exempt may no longer qualify for exempt status.

Learning Objectives:
This webinar will discuss pay equity reviews, avoiding discrimination in retention and performance-based bonus programs, and staying compliant in the face of a complex network of state and federal employment laws. The webinar will also provide guidance to employers regarding wage and hour audits to evaluate exempt status and offer practical tips in terms of both legal compliance and best practices.

Session 3B: Bring It Back to the Basics

Oyvind Wistrom & Laurie Petersen, Lindner & Marsack, S.C.

This session will focus on the top five things that every HR professional needs to know. The presentation will cover a variety of topics that arise during the initial onboarding process and continue into the employment relationship. Topics will include questions to avoid during the interviewing process, including certain questions concerning arrest and/or conviction records; the documentation process for new hires (I-9s, tax documents, etc.), as well as employer record-keeping requirements. The presentation will also cover the basics of the state and federal Family Medical Leave Acts (FMLA), as well as state and federal anti-discrimination laws, including some of the key differences between the state and federal laws. We will conclude by discussing some best practices in responding to internal complaints of harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

Participants in this presentation will learn how to identify some of the most common mistakes made by HR professionals, and they will be provided with practical guidance on how to ensure they are treating employees lawfully and minimizing the risk of employee litigation.

Day 2 Sessions

Session 4: COVID Continuation – Navigating Difficult Leave, Accommodation, and Other Issues in the Midst of a Pandemic

Kurt Erickson & Ben Sandahl, Littler Mendelson

COVID-19 continues to create many issues for employers, even two years into the pandemic. This session will address employer’s requirements to accommodate employees who are dealing with COVID in some way—those who come down with COVID themselves (including “long haulers”), those who are taking care of family members with COVID, and those who don’t want to comply with company policies on time off, working from the office, face coverings, or vaccinations. It will also address the most recent updates and implications of the Supreme Court’s decision that OSHA cannot mandate vaccinations and OSHA’s withdrawal of its rule.

Session 5A: Employee Handbook & Policy Checklist: A New Year | The Old Pandemic

Kathryn Hartrick, Hartrick Law Group

This session will equip private, nonunionized employers with developments in federal and state employment laws, as well as ongoing changes associated with the pandemic. The presentation and materials will address best practices when employers have employees in multiple locations. It will also address policies to consider implementing or modifying to address the evolving nature of the continuing pandemic. Key takeaways will include checklists to ensure your policies work for your employer, and compliance with state and federal employment laws.

Learning Objectives:

1. What are recent developments that require policies?
2. What are practical ways to address the changing/evolving nature of the pandemic?

Session 5B: Don't Lose Yourself While Trying to Find Them

Mark Hudson, Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, P.L.C.

Hiring is more competitive than it ever has been. How are we keeping up? How does your hiring process affect your organization? This seminar will address how to comply with the myriad workplace laws without losing your culture. Join us in analyzing each of the steps in the hiring process: job posting, interview, background and other screening checks, and the offer. Unlike many seminars, however, the focus of this opportunity will incorporate workplace culture in a compliance-focused world.

Learning Objectives:

1. Provide a strategic approach to addressing legal compliance issues in the hiring process while keeping your culture.
2. Analyze up-to-date issues facing the hiring process in 2022 (including COVID and other timely issues).

Session 6A: Dialed In – What Employers Need to Know About Telecommuters and Remote Working Arrangements

Cynthia Bremer & Jody Ward-Rannow, Ogletree Deakins

This session will cover the challenges and benefits of remote and hybrid working arrangements. It will also address the many legal considerations of these type of working arrangements, including workplace safety and health, workers’ compensation, Family and Medical Leave Act, wage and hour considerations, data integrity and confidentiality, communication and accountability, performance management and terminations, and payroll and tax considerations. Finally, the session will cover some key takeaways of employment law issues surrounding telecommuting and remote working arrangements, and provide recommended best practices.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the multiple employment law issues surrounding remote and hybrid working arrangements.
2. Learn recommended strategies and best practices in handling these types of arrangements.

Session 6B: Wait, That’s Protected Activity? Managing Employee Protected Activity and Retaliation Claims

Gary Clark, Quarles & Brady

This session will cover the various ways under federal, state, and local law that employees can engage in protected activity and best practices for managing it in real time. Employers are regularly surprised by some of the more nuanced ways employees can engage in protected activity under laws like the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and Title VII, especially when the complaint seems more about everyday working issues than a purported legal violation. Everyday complaints about pay, pay equity, workplace health and safety, working conditions, and vaccination requirements can constitute protected activity in the right circumstances. Learn to spot the more nuanced ways employees can engage in protected activity as well as strategies for managing this protected activity in real time. We will also discuss strategies for moving forward with necessary employment decisions when an employee previously engaged in unrelated protected activity.

Learning Objectives:
Identifying protected activity when it occurs and strategies for managing employee protected activity.

Costs:

• Early Bird Member: $250 (ends 1/31/22)
• After Bird Member: $325 (starts 2/1/22)
• Nonmember: $375

Registration: To register, you must first be logged into your MRA account.

• First, select "Live Webinar" from the Location drop-down and February 17 from the Dates/Times drop-down in the white box above.
• Next, click "Pricing & Details" to continue.
• Finally, click the "Register" button, which will add the event to your shopping cart.
• From there, you can either pay with a credit card or choose Invoice Me.

Questions? Contact MRA's Registration team at 800.488.4845 or email [email protected].

Sponsoring MRA events is a tremendous opportunity to bring your message of business value to our growing membership of organizations HR professionals and business leaders. Our members represent all industries including manufacturing, service, distribution, finance and health care! 80% of event attendees are new at each event offering you the opportunity to network with new contacts. We are very excited about the event this year and hope you can join us!

For more information on sponsorship, call Laura Kielbasa at 262.696.3346 or [email protected].

Thank you to our sponsors!

Gold Sponsor:

Participating Law Firms:

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• Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.
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