Executive Summary: Employment Law for the C-Suite

Produced

• September 2007

Key Features

50 minute DVD training program for managers and supervisors on employment law.

The DVD training program that teaches executives about the risks of employment law missteps and the realities behind your policy positions.

In just over 50 minutes, attorney and master-communicator John B. Phillips leads your top managers through the critical aspects of employment law, leaving them enlightened, informed, and focused on working with HR to create a legally compliant and productive work environment. After viewing this presentation, your C-level executives will have the know-how to:

• Understand that people are your organization’s most important asset. Work with HR to create a legally compliant, productive, and positive work environment for all employees
• Stop paying lip service to proposals, and focus on HR's policy agenda and human capital management strategies
• Create a top-down atmosphere of respect and cooperation, opening up your organization to even greater levels of success
• Avoid the comments, actions, and behavior patterns that expose your organization to legal headaches, and worse.

DVD Presentation Contents

I. DISCRIMINATION
Your C-suite executives learn the six principal kinds of unlawful discrimination and how to support HR’s efforts to stamp it out.
• How workplace diversity can help defeat discrimination claims
• Why it all starts at the top, and why HR needs executive-level buy-in
• State law vs. federal anti-discrimination statutes
• Duke vs. Wal-Mart, and the possible impact if workers win this class action lawsuit
Discrimination is one of the most common complaints in the workplace. Give your executives the information they need to make sure your corporate culture is what you say it is: discrimination-free.

II. WAGE & HOUR LAW
Because this is the hottest area of employment litigation today, allowing employees to sue a company for up to three years of back pay and overtime, you’ve got to remain in full compliance. Executives learn about:
• Properly classifying your employees as exempt or non-exempt
• What to look for in a wage-hour audit
• Convincing every manager that employees work off the clock will not be tolerated
• An executive’s personal liability exposure for wage & hour violations
The headlines tell the stories of wage & hour violations, but this DVD puts it in terms every executive will understand and take seriously.

III. UNIONS
It doesn’t matter if your workforce operates under a collective bargaining agreement or not, your C-suite team needs to understand basic bargaining and organizing principles. In this section they learn key skills for working with an established union or staying union-free. Specifically:
• How listening to the workforce can keep unions at bay or prevent strikes
• Why union issues aren’t just for HR
• Understanding union contracts and what they mean financially

IV. SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Allegations against executives result in the largest money settlements, ruin careers, and cause companies the most embarrassment. This section explains:
• Personal liability for your executives in a sexual harassment lawsuit
• Challenges involved with investigating high-placed executives when accused
• How to establish a procedure to investigate these executives
• The importance of avoiding retaliation, even after the sexual harassment claim has been debunked
Sexual harassment is a well-studied problem within HR, but an entirely new set of risks arises when the claim involves top management. Make sure your executives understand the potential for a devastating outcome.

V. WHISTLEBLOWING
Do your top managers know how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act protects those who bring illegal activity to light? Here, your team learns who is entitled to whistleblower protection, and more:
• State whistleblowing laws may go further than the federal law
• The lessons of Enron and WorldCom
• Taking whistleblowers seriously
• The difference between a whistleblower and a troublemaker, and how to handle
the latter
• Proving to subordinate employees that their opinions count
Coach your leaders how to avoid knee-jerk reactions when red flags are raised and to view every situation objectively and fairly.

VI. TRAINING DISCONNECT
When employment litigation arises over alleged harassment, discrimination, or other violation, an employee’s attorney will often try to determine if training had been provided
prior to the unlawful act. That’s because a lack of training for employees and management can be used to attack your organization’s commitment to a legal and positive work environment. Executives learn:
• Why training is so important
• Ways they can make workforce training even more effective
• The CEO commitment to training that pays dividends
• The differences between one-time and on-going training
• How to do a cost-benefit analysis of training
Is training as important to your C-level executives as it should be? Here, they learn to view training as a positive, proactive and profitable exercise, not the drain on time and resources they may now assume it to be.

VII. ACCOUNTABILITY AND LEADERSHIP
The best C-level executives aren’t just managers – they’re leaders who command respect and dedication. Moreover, they have to be able to make tough fi ring and transfer calls when the situation demands it. This section teaches your team how to:
• Walk the talk, not just pay lip service to maintaining a legally compliant workplace
• Get subordinate executives to listen and buy-in to making positive changes.
• Tell the truth to employees
• Be consistent in their treatment of employees
• Admit when they are wrong
• Let others take credit when due
• Prove that your people really are your most important asset
• Take your organization from good to great
Key to any successful executive career are values, integrity, and the willingness to back
up policies with action. Sometimes that means replacing popular managers and employees who aren’t getting the job done, or who aren’t equally committed to avoiding employment law missteps. In his powerful conclusion, Phillips spells out what’s required, in no uncertain terms.

The video "preview" clip shown on this page requires that Windows Media Player is installed on your computer. To add this media player product, download from Microsoft Windows Media Player.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: EMPLOYMENT LAW FOR THE C-SUITE FEATURES

• Candid straight talk from an attorney who regularly counsels top executives at some of the nation’s largest employers
• Fast-paced explanation of key concepts with a focus on the bottom-line impact
• Revealing anecdotes and true-life examples that keep the presentation rooted in reality
• Powerful emphasis on the ethics and integrity issues they don’t teach in business school but are vital to leading a successful organization
• High-quality production values including lighting, sound, direction, and photography that’s major-studio grade.This DVD Presentation is perfect for:
• Chief Executive Officer
• Chief Information Officer
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Operations Officer
• Senior VP of HR
• All members of senior management
• All company officers
• Group and division heads
• Directors
• Other top managers

 He Speaks "CEO"

Attorney John Phillips is Of Counsel with Miller & Martin. He has also served as VP and Deputy General Counsel for Labor & Employment with Coca-Cola Enterprises, a FORTUNE 500 corporation. In that role, John counseled members of the senior executive team on the issues covered in this DVD.

He had primary responsibility for Coca-Cola Enterprises’ alternative dispute resolution program, AAP/EEO compliance, legal issues in workforce reorganization, and the ethics and compliance hotline.

In cooperation with M. Lee Smith Publishers, John has hosted all three editions of the award-winning Danger Zones for Supervisors video-based training series. He’s served as editor of Tennessee Employment Law Letter for 20 years, and has recorded numerous HR Hero audio conferences for training HR professionals and executives. He is the author of two books on employment law and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for Labor and Employment Law. His engaging and clear delivery, coupled with a deep understanding of key employment law issues, and the fact that he “speaks CEO” has made him an in-demand speaker and trainer in a variety of corporate settings.

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