Register for all three sessions for $325.00:

RECORDING COMING SOON: Register for Part II "The Relationships" for $125.00:

Register for Part III "The Leaves" for $125.00:

You don't want to miss this opportunity: we're taking The Effective Supervisor to the web. Join LMV for a groundbreaking three-part webinar series where you can have your managers and front-line supervisors vastly improve their knowledge of and comfort with their role as supervisor - all from the comfort of their own office.

Richard Lehr, Donna Brooks, and Matt Stiles will bring you this series based on the proven in-person Effective Supervisor training program that's helped more than 5,600 managers and supervisors over the past twelve years. The series will cover these areas with each segment lasting two-hours and providing the attendees the chance to submit questions:

February 18, 2010, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (CST):
PART I - "The Laws": Being an "equal opportunity employer" doesn't mean you must treat all employees the same. So what does it mean? This segment will provide a layperson's overview of the laws affecting the workplace and will focus on employer rights - what you can and should do in order to manage your workforce in an effective, positive, and legal manner. We'll cover discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, as well as pointing out often overlooked "protected classes" such as those in the military and reserves. We'll cover the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and also address the new Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. But these issues won't be presented in a dry, text-book format; we'll give real-life examples from litigation that will help these issues come alive for the participants.

February 25, 2010, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (CST):
PART II - "The Relationships": We'll address concrete steps to take to become an effective supervisor and build trust within a department, while implementing performance management techniques that will help give the supervisors what they want: a department full of people doing their jobs well. Supervisors need to understand what a key role they play in employee retention, and how building a functional and productive department so often comes down to relationships. We'll cover how to resolve conflict among employees and also address issues to keep in mind while supervising through rough economic times. And we'll cover effective hiring techniques so that supervisors can make the most of every job opening.

March 4, 2010, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (CST):
PART III - "The Leaves": Workers' Compensation, Family and Medical Leave, maternity leave, indefinite leave for a disability ...it can all get overwhelming for a supervisor just trying to get a job done. This segment will focus on spotting the needle issues in the haystack of complex laws governing absences, accommodations and abuse. We'll address communication with employees on leave, trouble spots for dealing with employees with chronic health conditions, and when and how supervisors can take performance-based action against an employee on leave. Attendees can attend any one of these sessions or can sign up for the entire series.

COST: You can register for the 3-part series for $325.00 per connection site, with no limitation on the number of participants, or participants can attend any single session for $125.00 per connection.

Who Should Attend?
Our EFFECTIVE SUPERVISOR presentations are prepared especially for the supervisor, managerial professional, and small business executive. The EFFECTIVE SUPERVISOR program is prepared and presented by our own team of lawyers, who have a practical familiarity with the issues and problems which frequently arise in the workplace. This interactive program will focus on employer rights – what you can and should do in order to manage your workforce in an effective, positive, and legal manner.

Cost:
1-2 attendees: $150 each;
3-9 attendees: $135 each;
10 or more attendees: $110 each

For complete details and itinerary, click here.

Cost: Due to technical issues, the audio recording on this webinar has some minor quality issues, and we have discounted the price for the recorded webinar to $45.00 per connection site.

Or contact Edi Heavner at 205.323.9263 or eheavner@ lehrmiddlebrooks.com.

Cost: $50.00 per connection site

Cost: $75.00 per connection site.

Cost: $75.00 per connection site

Cost: $75.00

Cost: $50.00 per session, per connection site

In short: there’s much COBRA work to be done in the coming weeks. We discuss the DOL’s model notice, any clarifications from DOL and IRS to the questions created by the statute as well as the common questions posed by our clients and friends during the last several weeks. The webinar will focus on how these developments affect employer conduct from now until 2010.

Whereas our COBRA webinar earlier this month covered the actual changes in the law, this webinar will be more "hands-on, how-to." If you were unable to attend our earlier webinar, a recording of the session is available for purchase on our website: http://www.lehrmiddlebrooks.com/events.htm. This is likely the best way to understand the Stimulus COBRA’s basics.
COST: $50.00

Please contact Mike Thompson at mthompson@lehrmiddlebrooks.com or 205-323-9278 or Donna Brooks at dbrooks@lehrmiddlebrooks.com or 205-226-7170 with any questions you have regarding this issue.

Under existing law, if a minimum of 30% of an employer’s workers sign union authorization cards, the union may ask the National Labor Relations Board to hold a secret ballot election for employees to vote on whether to unionize. Under EFCA, if just half plus one of an employer’s workers sign those cards, the union is automatically formed without a vote of any kind. Even more troubling for employers is the provision of the bill where a federal government arbitration board would settle terms for a first contract between the employer and union.

The union landscape has changed substantially. Private sector union representation has increased during the past two years. Employers and industries historically not threatened by unions have to start thinking differently about them now; and those that are already familiar with the union threat have to rethink their defenses. Labor unions have friends in high places throughout the Obama Administration and Capitol Hill. Unions spent a fortune last year working for the election of politicians sympathetic to their legislative agenda and they will stop at nothing to force this bill into law. The Service Employees International Union (“SEIU”) has pledged to spend $50 million in 2009 alone, campaigning for the passage of EFCA.

We: (1) Discuss the current status of EFCA and the likely scenarios for its progress through Washington; (2) Demystify the legislation and arm employers with the critical facts you and your employees need to know about it—facts that most reports on the bill are overlooking or neglecting to provide; (3) Examine in detail the best employer options for fighting the legislation now and communicating to the workforce about EFCA and unions; and (4) Provide employers with a practical, step-by-step strategy for remaining union-free in the face of a recharged, reinvigorated, and aggressive union movement.

Cost: $75.00

(1) Practical implications of recent wage and hour developments;
(2) Steps you can take now to avoid the compliance pitfalls that get most employers into litigation or other trouble with DOL including employee misclassifications, comp time, time-clock rounding, meal breaks, off-the-clock work, donning/doffing, and child labor.
(3) If you're a federal contractor subject to the Davis-Bacon Act or Service Contract Act, stay tuned for the last half hour as we discuss key compliance requirements for anyone performing (or bidding to perform) under federal contract.

Cost: $75.00 per connection site, with no limit on the number of participating attendees at each site.

To submit questions, please send an e-mail to dbrooks@lehrmiddlebrooks.com.

The program has been approved for two hours of HRCI Credit.

Cost: The registration fee for this webinar is $75 per connection site, with no limit on the number of participating attendees at each site.

Do you still joyously skip to the mailbox looking for letters from old friends? Are you regularly faxing your business contacts? Do you turn your computer on only a couple of times a week to play Solitaire? Then this webinar may not be for you. Or, maybe it’s meant just for you.

Because your employees aren’t communicating “old school” these days – they’re grousing about work on Facebook, or sending suggestive messages through MySpace, or doing whatever it is that people do on Twitter. They may even have started blogs about just what a bad company you are running. What’s an employer to do?

In this timely webinar led by LMV attorneys Donna Brooks and Matt Stiles, we will:
(1) Discuss what employers can and should do about employee postings on the internet;
(2) Analyze when employees might have an expectation of privacy about their postings and when they shouldn’t;
(3) Distinguish between how public and private employers should approach this issue;
(4) Address using social media sites as recruiting tools;
(5) Discuss factors you need to consider in drafting an effective Social Media Policy; and
(6) Examine what happens when social media meets the National Labor Relations Board’s prohibitions on spying and protections of concerted activity.

The materials will include a starter “Social Media Policy” that you can use in crafting your own policy that meets the needs of your workforce.

Cost: $65 per connection site, with no limit on the number of participating attendees at each site.

$90.00 per connection site, with no limit on the number of participating attendees at each site.

• Recent Developments at the OFCCP: We'll look at the OFCCP's enforcement mindset and record, address the new OFCCP leadership and probable huge increase in funding, analyze what Ricci v. DeStefano really means for federal contractors (you did hear that New Haven has just been sued by African-American employees over use of the infamous thrown-out promotional test, right?), assess what effect the new administration's union-policies have on federal contractors, and discuss why the OFCCP's reach may be growing.
• The OFCCP's and DOL's (and the EEOC's while we're at it) Increased Emphasis on Disability Issues: What they've published and what we've observed in audits; if you haven't heard, someone woke the sleeping giant ADA.
• High-Level Audit Issues: We'll discuss strategies for developing the initial audit response, analyze compensation data responses (and how the OFCCP is now assessing your compensation data), share strategies for preparing for an on-site audit, and discuss what happens after the on-site ends.

This program has been approved for 1.5 hours of (General) recertification credit toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification. Each attendee will receive comprehensive written materials.

Cost: $90 per connection site, with no limit on the number of participating attendees at each site.