• Key elements of an effective investigation. Understand the core components of a thorough investigation and when it’s necessary to launch one.
• Triggering events. Learn which types of employee complaints and situations require immediate investigation and which can be resolved through other means.
• Legal obligations. Discover which employment laws mandate investigations and how to stay compliant.
• Interviewing techniques. Plan and strategize each interview, implement a checklist and document findings accurately to build a solid investigation report.

• Signs that your office may be infected with negativity.
• The hidden costs of a chronic negativity problem.
• Diagnosing what makes some people so negative.
• Employees from the dark side: Whiners, complainers, critics and pessimists.
• Active troublemakers: Tattletales, gossips, bullies and rabble-rousers.
• Effective weapons in the war against negativity.
• How you may actually be rewarding your employees’ negative behavior.
• A 5-step behavioral coaching process that really makes an impact.
• How to re-engage resentful employees by flipping their “motivational switch.”
• Using the Team Turnaround process to “disinfect” an entire group.
• Termination: When removing the cause is the only cure.
• Recognizing systemic problems: Signs of a toxic workplace.
• Strategies for saving your sanity in a toxic organization.

OUR APOLOGIES - WE EXPERIENCED TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES AT THE END

• Employee or contractor? Discover how to make the right call.
• Exempt or nonexempt? Learn to use the right tests to classify employees as either nonexempt, eligible for overtime or exempt, not eligible, as well as the latest court rulings related to overtime pay.
• Exempt salary minimum. What’s the current minimum salary for most exempt status?
• Breaks, travel, on-call. Stop wasting money or risking lawsuits by learning when to pay for travel time, on-call hours, meal breaks, training time and more.
• After-hours tasks. In the era of smartphones, email and remote work, learn what must be paid time.
• Docking pay. Know when the law allows you to dock the pay of salaried employees.
• Remote work. Why every employer should review their telecommuting policies.
• Inspections, audits. What to do if DOL or ICE agents show up and demand your pay records or arrest your workers.
• Overtime. How to pay it—and how to legally prevent unauthorized OT.
• Fixing mistakes. How to resolve pay and classification errors without triggering a lawsuit or DOL investigation.

• Understand “real world” FMLA scenarios. We’ll explain how to manage the common FMLA problems you face daily, including reining in intermittent-leave abuse with strict call-off compliance, when intermittent leave is for a family member’s chronic illness and how to avoid potential legal pitfalls associated with leave (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, PWFA and workers’ compensation)..
• Use compliance tools correctly. Learn how to use the tools of compliance to address unscheduled and intermittent leaves (certifications, call-in rules, attendance procedures and more), and how to account for intermittent leave by the hour.
• Proper certifications. Know what to do when the FMLA call-offs exceed the intermittent-leave certification you have on file.
• When to say no. Employees can use intermittent leave every day to change their schedule permanently. Know when and how you can say no to such demands.
• Leverage your follow-up powers. Know when you can contact an employee’s doctor about the need for leave and request a second opinion.
• Know how to track time off. The FMLA and the PWFA allow pregnant workers short bursts of unscheduled leave. Learn how to track both concurrently.
• Learn lessons from recent court rulings. They lay out a path for the best (and worst) steps to complying with intermittent-leave laws.
• Identify the key questions to ask. You should ask a certain set of questions each and every time an employee seeks leave.

Here’s what you’ll learn throughout the four-week discrimination series:

• 04/03/25: Age. Understand the rights of aging employees and head off age-discrimination lawsuits.
• 04/10/25: Religion. Learn practical strategies for preventing religious discrimination in the workplace, including the process for offering reasonable accommodations.
• 04/17/25: Sex. Comply with laws that guarantee equal rights and opportunities in the workplace, ensuring that all individuals are treated fairly regardless of their gender.
• 04/24/25: Race. Ensure you are complying with civil rights laws that prohibit unequal treatment based on race.

• Why you need to limit where remote work takes place, whether it happens regularly or only occasionally. Complicated state hiring and payroll issues for multi-state remote workers make it essential to know where your remote workers (and job candidates) are located.
• Remote work isn’t a right—in most cases. You control where work gets done … or at least you should. But sometimes remote work is a required reasonable accommodation. We’ll explain—in plain English.
• Beware the disloyal teleworker. A new trend has teleworkers cheating on their employers by working for two or more at the same time. Learn how to spot and stop this.
• Hybrid work. You may think requiring regular in-office work at least part of the time fixes remote-work legal problems. It doesn’t. In fact, it often multiplies them.
• Harassment on the rise. Shockingly, more workers are reporting sex-, age- and ethnicity-based harassment than ever—especially when teleworking. You need new harassment rules for telework NOW.
• New telework rules for managers. Discover how to train your managers to successfully supervise off-site staff without resorting to privacy-violating surveillance that can trigger lawsuits.
• Telework expenses. Comply with laws that require you to pay remote and hybrid workers for the surprise expenses they incur on your behalf.
• Timekeeping and pay. Understand state and federal laws on timekeeping and breaks for remote staff. Plus, know when you can pay some teleworkers less than hybrid or office workers.
• Common classification mistakes. Learn how to properly classify remote workers as exempt vs. non-exempt, and employee vs. independent contractor. Jobs change and so does classification.
• Forced hybrid work. Discover how to force fully remote workers back to the office part-time.

• I-9 modernization updates. Review recent changes to I-9 processes, including remote verification and the increased scrutiny of electronic I-9 systems provided by outside vendors.
• Correcting issues. Identify and address missing or incomplete Forms I-9 and other common issues.
• New administration, new priorities. Track changes coming out of the Trump administration and how to comply.
• Increased enforcement. Learn tactics to navigate the new ICE taskforces and Homeland Security’s I-9 audit quotas leading to dramatic increases in enforcement activity.
• Employer liability and joint employment. Explore government priorities around criminal prosecution of employers and a continued emphasis on joint employment with staffing agencies and contractors.
• Ask questions. In a recent webinar, nearly a dozen questions were asked of the presenters. Bring your unique questions and get all of them answered.

• Why you need a formal attendance policy. Learn how to structure a policy that establishes attendance as an essential job function.
• How the FMLA impacts absenteeism. Understand when intermittent absences are a protected right and how they affect your attendance policies.
• Tracking absences while staying compliant. Learn how to account for FMLA absences in performance evaluations and no-fault attendance policies.
• Handling attendance issues with disabled workers. Discover how to prove attendance is an essential job function while complying with ADA regulations.
• Accommodating pregnancy-related absences. Reasonably accommodate pregnancy-related absences and restrictions before and after birth under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
• PUMP Act compliance. Manage unlimited milk-expression breaks under the PUMP Act rules.
• How military leave impacts attendance. Learn the rules under USERRA, including extended absences for active duty.
• Spotting and addressing leave abuse. Identify red flags and implement strategies to prevent misuse of protected leave.
• Balancing religious accommodations. Navigate new Supreme Court standards on religion-based time-off requests while maintaining fairness in the workplace.

• The difference between managing and coaching. Learn how shifting to a coaching mindset turns managers into leaders.
• A step-by-step coaching process. Follow a structured approach to guide and develop employees effectively.
• 3 core coaching skills every leader needs. Master the fundamental skills that elevate your leadership style.
• Coaching for promotions, growth and development. Identify high-potential employees and prepare them for future roles.
• Investing in your team from Day One. Foster engagement and create the right chemistry for long-term success.
• Addressing poor performance with leadership and empathy. Correct problems while maintaining trust and motivation.
• Unique strategies for coaching remote workers. Keep distributed teams engaged and avoid Zoom fatigue.
• Creating a coaching playbook. Set measurable goals, energize your team and empower employees to succeed.

• What Gallup’s latest research says about engagement. Understand the data behind declining engagement and learn actionable steps to improve it.
• How to drive performance, productivity and retention. Use structured performance conversations to align employees with business goals.
• Why coaching—not just managing—yields better results. Discover how a coaching approach fosters stronger relationships and higher performance.
• How to intentionally monitor and guide employee performance. Ensure employees feel valued, supported and motivated to improve.
• Why making performance conversations a regular habit is essential. Build your confidence and effectiveness as a leader by incorporating these discussions into your routine.