2009 Iowa Employment, Training and Benefits Conference Session Schedule

Session I – 8:20 – 9:30

2009 Employment Law Update – Jack Lipovac, Matthew Brick and Mike Staebell (Meadows A)

Employment law is a moving target and even accidental missteps by an employer often result in costly litigation.  This session will cover important recent developments in employment law, including:

• New legislation, including ADAAA and the Ledbetter/Fair Pay Act

• COBRA and other workplace issues in the new Stimulus Act

• Military Family Leave

• New Family & Medical Leave Regulations

• Fair Labor Standards Act

Surviving and Thriving in Turbulent Times – TODD MCDONALD (Salon 1)

When the going gets tough, your employees need your leadership more than ever.  Leadership is critical in turbulent times because things are no longer black and white.  In fact, you need to focus on green.  You need to focus on those things that will support your organization’s economic engine.  In this session we will:

• Examine different factors that cause turbulence in our organizations and teams

• Identify strategies for personally dealing with change and ambiguity

• Learn five strategies for managing in turbulent times

U.S. Healthcare, The New Presidential Administration and the Effect on Your Medical Care – JESSE PATTON (Salon 2)

This session will provide an in-depth look at the healthcare plans of our new President.  Attendee’s will learn how President Obama’s healthcare proposals may affect America’s healthcare system.  Attendees will learn about plans being introduced by the Congress of the United State and gain insight on the impact of these proposals.  You will learn:

• The driving factors in the U.S. healthcare system

• Ideas of the new President

• The plans of a United States Congress

• Recent changes with the Stimulus package and SCHIP

• How care may be delivered

• How this may affect business

Session II – 9:45 – 10:55

FMLA Update – Mike Staebell (Meadows A)

This session will provide an overview of current and the new regulations for FMLA.  The session will also cover intermittent and reduced leave schedules, as well as employee and employer rights and responsibilities.  This session will address:

• Overview of New Regulations

• Proposed Regulations

• Military Family Leave

• Common FMLA Issues

Documenting Discipline – Paul Greufe (Meadows B)

Create a more consistent and fair way for your supervisors and managers to deal with their "least best" employees.  This session will improve the way your supervisors document discipline, which will help your organization avoid lawsuits.  This session will also show you how to develop better employees and become better prepared for your day in court.  Attendees will:

• Receive sample policies that work

• Learn a simple, effective way to deal with documentation

• Have fun discussing some HR horror stories

Coaching the Coach – MAX GAGE (Salon 1)

As Human Resource professionals, our role is often times "coaching" the managers who in turn need to coach their employees to learn new skills, redirect poor work performance, and reinforce good work behaviors.  Getting results, doing more with less, holding people accountable, efficient on-boarding of new people, changing skills needed by changing work environments....the demands placed on managers and their employees are ever increasing.  In this session we will discuss your coaching role, and how to better equip the managers you support in their coaching and feedback efforts.  In this session we will:

• Introduce a coaching model to help your managers reinforce and redirect employees' behaviors

• Introduce a feedback model to ensure specific, objective feedback is being presented to the employee

What You Should Expect From Your Benefits Broker – JEFF CLAYTON and JOE LANGEL of HOLMES MURPHY (Salon 2)

Are you curious if your current broker is providing the same level of service or has the same level of expertise as the competition?  This session will discuss the basics of what you should be getting from your employee benefits broker.  There will be some discussion of the quoting process and how commissions are calculated, as well as added value services available to companies.  The session will also include an update on recent and possible legislative changes, including changes to COBRA, and how your broker should be helping diminish your increasing workload as a result of these changes.  The session is anticipated to be interactive and time will be available for questions.

How to Conduct an Effective Interview – KEVIN POKORNY (Salon 3)

Did you ever interview someone who you thought would be a fantastic employee, but he or she didn't turn out that way?  If so, it's most likely because you did not conduct an effective interview.  What are the basic components to an effective interview that will result in hiring people to match the job?  In this workshop, you will learn:

• How to prepare for the interview

• A structured interview format

• How to develop behavior-based interview questions

• How to ask follow-up questions

Introduction to the National Labor Relations Act – DAVID GARZA (Polk Room)

Included with this presentation will be discussion on what constitutes an appropriate bargaining unit, the Board’s election process, the Board’s definition of a 2(11) supervisor, and what can arise in collective bargaining unfair labor practice cases.  There will also be some discussion on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Session III – 11:10 – 12:20

Investigation Preparedness – FRAN SEPLER (Meadows A)

When issues arise that call for an investigation, organizations must be prepared to act.  The "administrative skeleton" of an investigation involves having policies in place that eliminate barriers to investigation, agreements with collective bargaining units to facilitate effective access to employees, procedures to ensure consistency and quality, and tools and templates to assist those in the trenches.  This session will cover all of the elements an organization should have in place before a complaint is received, and will include templates and samples for participants to adapt for their own use.

The Americans with Disabilities Act – JILL JENSEN WELCH (Meadows B)

Employers are re-learning the Americans with Disabilities Act due to its amendments, effective on January 1, 2009.  In this session you will learn about the changes to the law and the expected impact on employers, including:

• Mitigating Measures - Overturning U.S. Supreme Court precedent so that mitigating measures are no longer considered when determining who is "disabled" and protected by the ADA (with one small exception).  What's gone, and what's left?

• Substantially Limited - Lowering the standard for "substantially limited" so more persons qualify for ADA protection.

• Major Life Activities - Broadening "major life activities," including a new subcategory called "major bodily functions."

• Episodic Impairments - Setting a new bright line test for when episodic impairments are protected disabilities.

• Regarded As - Significantly lowering the standard, and raising the risk, for "regarded as" disabled claims.

10 Ways to Maximize Your Training Budget in Difficult Times – MIKE DAVIS (Salon 1)

You may laugh, you may cry, you may nod your head in disbelief when you see how simple some of these tactics can be.  This is an overview of the difference between learning and training, and how you can encourage employee development in your organization without spending a small fortune.  In this session you will:

• Examine things you can and can’t do without trainers

• Look at some cheap ways to provide new learning for employees

• Hear about some things that have worked (and not worked) for others in your same boat

Drug Testing in the Workplace – BILL JUDGE (Salon 2)

Most drug and alcohol testing programs limit employer and supervisor liability and maximize company profits.  The first step in developing an effective workplace program is developing your organization’s written policy.  You will learn:

• Five basic questions that must be addressed in the written drug and alcohol testing policy.

• How a good written drug and alcohol policy can limit liability and disparate treatment claims.

Flexible Spending Account Plans – KIM CLAYTON (Salon 3)

Mr. Clayton will address a number of rules that have impacted Flexible Spending Account plans over the past several years.  You will learn the benefits of incorporating a FSA debit card into your plan.  FSA communication materials designed specifically for your employee group are critical so they understand how to maximize their FSA plan and reduce their taxes.  Mr. Clayton will highlight some proven methods of communicating to employees and increasing employee participation.

Session IV – 1:30 – 2:40

FLSA – MIKE STAEBELL (Meadows A)

Despite the 2004 revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act, wage and hour problems continue to perplex employers in every industry.  This session will cover recent FLSA rulings and interpretations.  You will learn about:

• Common violations

• Who can be classified as exempt and who can't

• Various FLSA exemptions: Executive, Administrative & Professional

Exploring the Universe of Medical Accommodations – DOUG FULTON (Meadows B)

This session will help you apply the basics rules of the FMLA to the endless variety of real-world situations that confront HR professionals on a daily basis.  Mr. Fulton will examine how the various leave laws and policies work together, and potentially conflict.  Attendees will be presented with factual scenarios drawn from real life FMLA situations and actual legal cases.

• Family and Medical Leave

• Worker’s Compensations Disability Leave

• Pregnancy Disability Leave

• Request for Accommodation under the new ADAAA

Get a Grip!  Managing Those Slippery HR Projects – CATHY BELMONT (Salon 1)

Delaying that system upgrade?  Worried that you’ll not be ready for benefits meetings?  Perplexed by how you’ll get that new leadership program launched?  Whether you find yourself in the midst of projects regularly or occasionally, we’ll help you get a grip!  Discover best practices and tools to keep you moving forward.  Stay atop the slippery slope of your HR projects!  In this session:

• Gain clarity on the breadth and depth of your projects

• Break your projects down into pieces and create manageable project plans

The “Human” in HR When Facing Change and Downsizing – ANDY VISSER (Salon 2)

The Human Resource staff is in a primary position to provide support when business conditions require downsizing.  HR will be expected to have solutions.  This program offers human resource staff and managers tools to support both the departing employees and survivors of the personnel cuts.  Downsizing is a traumatic loss experience for employees and families.  You will learn:

• How to provide both support and leadership in a downsizing environment

• How to look at the psychological/personality dynamics of change and loss

• You will leave with six aides for leadership people to provide to employees facing change

Electronic Workplace Dangers and Pitfalls – RUSH NIGUT (Salon 3)

This session will explore the dangers and pitfalls facing business with new technologies and records retention.  You will learn about:

• Discovery in litigations

• Records retention requirements, including emails and backup tapes

• Developing policies that lower employee privacy expectations

• Copyright violations

• Considerations for blogs

Unions 101 (Private Sector) – JACK LIPOVAC (Polk Room)

Participants will learn about labor laws that affect union organizing, collective bargaining and unfair labor practices.  This session will highlight areas of the National Labor Relations Act that affect non-union employers, and prepare your managers and supervisors for the proper response in case of an organization attempt by a union.  Participants will gain knowledge of the current legal landscape for union organizing and learn about union organizing tactics and techniques.  This session will cover:

• Historical overview

• Union elections; from initial contact to unit determination to election

• Nation Labor Relations Act

• Recent trends and developments that impact union-free status

• Collective bargaining

• The dangers employers face if the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law

Session V – 3:00 – 4:10

Bulletproof Investigations – FRAN SEPLER (Meadows A)

You have conducted an investigation that is effective and defensible, you have fulfilled your duty to investigate a complaint, and you have taken action as a result of that complaint.  Now a charge has been filed or a lawsuit has been brought, and your investigation is under new scrutiny.  Questions addressed in this session will include:

• Will your investigation stand up?

• Who is critiquing your work?

• Where are the bullets aimed?

• Will the steps you take match up to "best practices"?

Managing Your Company’s Healthcare Plans in Today’s Economy – JESSE PATTON (Salon 1)

This session will provide an in-depth look at how best to structure your employee benefit plans in today’s economy.  Attendees will learn what the different funding options available are and how they might be structured.  Attendees will also learn about low cost features that might provide big dividends. You will learn:

• Different funding options for your medical plan

• Tax saving ideas that increase pay

• How to reduce your employees’ healthcare costs

• How to move your plan from sick care to health care

• Better ways to communicate plan information

• How to keep your employee benefit plan intact

Drug Testing in the Workplace – BILL JUDGE (Salon 2)

Most drug and alcohol testing programs limit employer and supervisor liability and maximize company profits.  The first step in developing an effective workplace program is developing your organization’s written policy.  You will learn:

• Five basic questions that must be addressed in the written drug and alcohol testing policy

• How a good written drug and alcohol policy can limit liability and disparate treatment claims

HDHP and Split-Funded Plans – KIM CLAYTON (Polk Room)

High Deductible Health Plans are often implemented to reduce costs and facilitate the ability of an employee to open a Health Savings Account.  However, the HDHP can also be used to reduce your fully-insured premiums while still keeping the plan of benefits for your employees the same.  Mr. Clayton will address how a split-funded fully-insured plan can help retain a good benefit plan design, while reducing your plan’s overall costs.

REGISTER TODAY!

Register on-line at http://www.hr-onesource.com/conferences.htm or call 515-221-1718, or fax in a completed form to 515-327-5050.  Only $99 per participant!