2017 NWA Supervisors’ Conference

Categories: Workshop

NOARK is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. This program is valid for 6.50 PDCs for the SHRM-CP℠ or SHRM-SCP℠. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit shrmcertification.org.

This event is approved for HRCI credits

This Program has been approved for 0.99 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

The use of this official seal confirms that this Activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.

NOARK and Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus. P. C.

Present

2017 NWA Supervisors’ Conference

You are a supervisor, manager, or human resources professional. You know that no matter what your job is, “ Job 1” is the managing of people. Everything else goes just a little easier when your people are happy and productive. The more you know about effectively managing people in today’s ever-changing workplace, the better equipped you are to solve problems, encourage engagement, and align the efforts of your department with your organization’s overall mission. 

The 2017 NWA Supervisors’ Conference is your one-day, all inclusive supervising and managing people experience. Whether you are new to supervising or an experienced manager, the knowledgeable attorneys of Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus will bring you up-to-the minute on the law, regulation, and practice of people management. 

Objectives:

Conference attendees will be introduced to tools to lawfully and effectively:

  • Hire, promote and evaluate employees
  • Provide an environment that is safe and respectful of both organizational and employee privacy rights
  • Address unusual workplace occurrences
  • Deal with issues surrounding the use of social media by employees and as a business tool
  • Prevent and address workplace harassment
  • Discipline, terminate, and document to protect the rights of both employees and employers

Who Should Attend:

  • Supervisors
  • Managers
  • HR Professionals
  • Attorneys

Pricing:

  • $150 per attendee –all day
  • $1050 per table of 8 – all day
  • $25 per NOARK member, lunch only
  • $50 per non-NOARK member, lunch only 

Exhibitor opportunities--$250 contact Cathleen at eat0@eau0eav0eaw0 

Sponsorship opportunities contact Cathleen at eat0@eau0eav0eaw0

Agenda:
Hiring, Promoting, Performance Review –

Speaker: Cindy Kolb

This session on Hiring, Promoting, and Performance Review will give an overview of the legal issues facing employers in making hiring and promoting decisions and in conducting performance evaluations and reviews. Cindy will discuss the risks of claims of discrimination, retaliation, and negligent hiring and the best practices for minimizing the risk of such claims including risks inherent in the interview process. In addition, she will discuss how to fairly and legally make promotion decisions. Finally, employers will learn of the challenges of performance reviews and how to perform a review that not only is fair but can be used to defend a charge of discrimination. The session objectives include:

  1. Understand the risks to employers in the interviewing and hiring process and how to minimize those risks.
  2. How to fairly and legally make promotion decisions.
  3. Best practices of performance reviews.
Workplace Safety and Privacy – 

Speaker: Abtin Mehdizadegan

This presentation will discuss sensitive situations in the workplace that involve employee safety and privacy, including OSHA reporting requirements, model handbook policies, complying with no contact orders, what to do when someone has made an actionable threat against an employee, and how to respond to requests for information. Session objectives include:

  1. Review OSHA reporting requirements.
  2. Learn model handbook policies for workplace safety and privacy.
  3. How to comply with no contact orders issued to an employee.
  4. How to protect employee privacy rights when responding to requests for information.

Everyday Things You Do Not See Everyday – 

Speakers: Rick Roderick, Cindy Kolb, Abtin Mehdizadegan, Greg Northen

This panel discussion of four attorneys will present informative and entertaining real-life scenarios that are unusual but are faced by supervisors and human resources professionals more often than one would think! 

Session objectives include:

  1. Awareness of the kinds of things that can happen in the workplace.
  2. How to address issues before they get out-of-hand.
  3. How to resolve issues to avoid litigation and/or costly remedies.
Social Media (Including NLRAB implications)

Speaker: Abtin Mehdizadegan

This session will discuss how to effectively manage social media issues in the workplace, including an update on the National Labor Relations Board’s handling of social media cases, Arkansas’s social media statute, and the dos and don’ts of social media policies in Employee Handbooks. Sessions objectives are:

  1. Learn the latest rulings by the NLRB on social media cases.
  2. Understand restrictions imposed on employers by Arkansas’s social media statute.
  3. Review the dos and don’ts of social media policies in handbooks.
Harassment Prevention

Speaker: Greg Northen

This session on Harassment Prevention will give an overview of federal and state laws pertaining to employees’ rights as well as employers’ responsibilities to establish a workplace free from unlawful harassment.  Greg will provide a brief overview of the current applicable legal standards in 2017, discuss potential liability issues for employers who fail to meet their obligations, and outline a few best practices for employers to follow in attempting to mitigate harassment by employees or others (the conduct) and potential liability (the defenses).  With the idea of prevention in mind, this program is designed to accomplish the following objectives:

  1. Identify unlawful harassment in the workplace.
  2. Understand legal obligations imposed on employers.
  3. Analyze best policies, practices and communications to mitigate risk to the company.
  4. Implement proactive steps to take now to put your company in a good position to take action quickly when a claim of harassment is received and to defend against harassment claims.
Discipline/Termination/Documentation

Speaker: Rick Roderick

Disciplining an employee is one of the most difficult things a supervisor has to do. Sometimes discipline requires termination. The discipline and termination process has legal consequences. A supervisor must use good managerial skills, follow procedures, and assemble the necessary documentation to lay the foundation for possible legal action. This session will teach you how to do that. You will learn how to position yourself for a possible challenge by the employee, how to investigate and build the documentation trail, and how to properly counsel, discipline and terminate an employee. This session is designed to accomplish these objectives:

  1. How to place the employer in the best position to defend a legal challenge to discipline or termination.
  2. How best to investigate and document the reasons for discipline or termination.
  3. Best practices to follow to properly counsel, discipline and terminate an employee.
     
SPEAKER BIOS

Abtin Mehdizadegan is an associate attorney with Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C. whose practice focuses on traditional management-side labor and employment defense. Abtin is active in the Firm’s litigation practice and has represented clients in administrative hearings, in trial settings, and on appeal. When he is not in the courtroom, Abtin advises clients in matters relating to compliance with affirmative action obligations for federal contractors, drafting and negotiating various employment agreements, and issues relating to employment-based immigration. Prior to joining the Firm, Abtin attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law. Prior to law school, Abtin attended the University of Maine. 

In 2017, Abtin received the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award from the Pulaski County Bar Association, was named by HR Professionals Magazine as a Rising Star in Employment Law, and was honored by Arkansas Business to be named in its 20 in Their 20s: The New Influentials edition.

Gregory J. Northen is an attorney in Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C.’s Little Rock office. His practice areas include labor and employment, wage and hour, landlord/tenant, and civil and business litigation. Greg’s experience includes practicing before federal and state courts in Arkansas, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and various federal and state agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division and Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.  Greg also assists clients with drafting and implementing up-to-date forms, policies, procedures and training for various labor and employment issues.


Cindy Kolb is a director at Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C. in Little Rock. She has been practicing law for 20 years. Her practice areas include employment law, insurance defense, and insurance coverage. She has had articles published in Arkansas Business and HR Professionals magazine. She is a member of the American, Arkansas, and Pulaski County Bar Associations and previously served as the chair of the Labor and Employment Section for the Arkansas Bar. She is the co-chair of the Arkansas Bar Association 2018 Mid-Year Meeting and VP of Special Events for Central Arkansas Human Resources Association and is the 2017-2018 Chair of the CAHRA Managers Conference. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Museum of Discovery. She is the past chair of Arkansas SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Affairs Conference. 

Richard A. “Rick” Roderick is a Director in the firm of Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C. practicing in the areas of labor and employment defense law. He has more than 20 years of human resource management experience, having served in various executive management positions, including executive director of human resources with a large multistate corporation. Rick has extensive experience in labor relations, union negotiations, employment discrimination, unfair labor practices, and wage and hour matters. He also advises management regarding human resource systems, policies and procedures and performs supervisory training.  Rick is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association (Past chair of Labor and Employment Law Section) and the American Bar Association.  He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2009, and was named Lawyer of the Year in the field of Labor Law – Management in 2017. He received both his B.S. degree in mathematics and M.S. degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and his J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen School of Law.

Northwest Arkansas Community College, Shewmaker Center Walmart Auditorium
1000 SE Eagle Way
Bentonville, AR 72712

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