Employment & Labor Training Programs

The attorneys who comprise Miller Johnson’s Employment & Labor practice are well-regarded as among the best in the state and the Midwest. If you cannot attend a scheduled workshop or seminar, we will come to you with a training program tailored specifically to your organization and its’ needs.

Miller Johnson employs a multi-level approach to general human resource and employment issues. We’ll review your organization’s current practices and policies while offering proactive, results-oriented counseling. This brochure outlines the training programs our clients most often request; we can tailor any of them to meet your needs, or develop a program to meet needs not covered here.

Supervisors / Managers
The following programs are designed to meet the needs of supervisors or managers.

• Bootcamp for new supervisors and managers: Either half- or full-day, we recommend providing this program annually or semi-annually to all new supervisors and managers. This training covers everything that a new supervisor/manager needs to know, including how to issue sound discipline, documenting performance issues, conducting investigations, understanding state and federal employment/labor laws, when to involve HR, weathering the FMLA, and more.
• FMLA: It is impossible for an organization to administrate the FMLA if supervisors and managers do not understand it or know when to notify HR of a potentially FMLA-qualifying absence. This training is an essential piece to preventing FMLA fraud and abuse.
• Employee dignity: Great as a refresher course, this training is designed to remind supervisors and managers of an organization’s harassment and discrimination policies. We use real-life scenarios that have resulted in litigation to help leaders understand the importance of maintaining employee dignity in the workplace.
• Remaining union-free: A must for organizations that are -- and want to remain -- union-free. This training educates supervisors and managers about how to detect union-organizing techniques and what to do in the face of an organizing campaign. We draw on years of experience in actual campaigns to prepare supervisors and managers for any and all situations.

The Human Resources Team
The following programs offer information and training tailored to human resources professionals:

• Bootcamp for new HR team members: This training is half- or full-day, and we recommend providing it annually or semi-annually to all new human resources staff. Similar to the “Bootcamp for new supervisors and managers,” this training focuses more on HR’s role in interviewing, hiring, making discharge decisions, investigating complaints of harassment and/or discrimination, administering the FMLA and weathering other employee health issues, OSHA and MIOSHA obligations, record-keeping, and more.
• HR training for health care organizations: Health care organizations face unique challenges, from balancing employment and labor issues with patient care, to peer review and mandatory reporting, to name a few. This training takes Miller Johnson’s unique healthcare employment expertise to make sure that HR professionals have the knowledge to be successful in the healthcare setting.
• FMLA: This training goes beyond the basics of the FMLA and provides practical information on the FMLA challenges faced most often by HR. Taught mainly through the use of case studies, it focuses on how to prevent common FMLA mistakes and educates HR representatives on how to prevent fraud and abuse. The training can be coupled with an in-depth analysis of the organization’s FMLA processes to find practical solutions to nagging FMLA woes.
• Wage and hour compliance: Wage and hour litigation is on the rise. Ensure your organization is not vulnerable to the next class action lawsuit by training HR representatives on issues such as properly classifying exempt and non-exempt employees, paying employees for breaks and on-call time when required, legally making deductions from pay, etc.
• Record-keeping and retention: This training educates HR representatives on what records must be maintained and helps them manage the huge task of organizing and retaining records. We also provide advice on reports that must be maintained and/or submitted to various government agencies.
• Employee handbooks, policies and contracts: How do you know what a contract is? Can employers have a non-contractual handbook as well as contractual agreements with employees? This training focuses on how to protect the interests of the organization and avoid common pitfalls that can make important provisions unenforceable.
• Demystifying unemployment claims: Virtually every employer faces claims for unemployment benefits. This training helps HR professionals understand whether and when to contest claims, how to navigate the appeal process and the practical ins and outs of a referee hearing.
• Immigration: Recruiting qualified candidates continues to be a challenge for many employers. More and more companies are looking to other countries to find the talent they need. This training educates HR representatives on everything they need to know regarding interviewing and hiring foreign nationals.

Supervisors/Managers & the HR Team
The following programs are helpful for supervisors, managers and HR professionals:

• Discipline, discharge and documentation: Managing workforce performance and conduct issues has never been easy. In an age of ever-changing employment laws and an ever-increasing employee entitlement mentality, the task of disciplining and discharging employees is only becoming more difficult. This program provides a comprehensive review of the principles and practices of sound discipline and effective documentation to ensure your confidence when an employee brings a lawsuit (or a state or federal agency) to your doorstep.
• I-9 compliance: At a time when immigration enforcement is on the rise, properly completing and maintaining I-9 forms is critically important. Even honest mistakes can cost employers. Also, the Social Security Administration tracks the use (and misuse) of social security numbers and is issuing mismatch letters to hundreds of employers. Responding to one of these letters is complicated and employers should not go it alone.
• Litigation preparedness and electronic discovery: As we continue down the path to becoming a paperless society, litigation discovery must focus more on the production of electronic documents. Recent court decisions have placed seemingly heavy burdens on companies and their counsel to undertake thorough, if not exhaustive, efforts to preserve, gather, and produce electronic documents, despite exorbitant costs to do so. Find out how to prepare your organization and avoid the mass production of electronic documents.
• Managing a Unionized Workplace: If your environment includes a union, it is essential to train your supervisors, managers and HR staff about how to effectively manage a unionized environment. Understanding the union structure, the collective bargaining agreement and management’s rights, among other things, is key to a harmonious relationship.
• Occupational Safety and Health: This training is important both for both regulatory compliance and being prepared for the unexpected. Preparing for the unexpected includes having your management team ready for regulatory inspections and investigations that start without advance warning. It also includes being ready for an accident or violence in the workplace.

If you or your organization are interested in setting up one of these training programs, please contact the chair of our Employment & Labor Section.