This audio conference was recorded on Thursday - May 14, 2009

Credits:

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.

Description:

For most employers, offering an employee assistance program (EAP) is a cost-effective way to curb attrition, and improve morale and productivity.

Unfortunately, EAPs can also increase liability.

EAPs can create exposure to claims relating to confidentiality and other provisions of the ADA and FMLA, state privacy issues, ERISA, and even religious discrimination.

If your company offers an EAP or is considering one, order this audio conference recording when our employment law expert will review the risks EAPs pose, and provide recommendations and measures for limiting liability for employers who have EAPs. We’ll help make sure your workers and your company reap the benefits of your Employee Assistance Program and that you avoid the pitfalls.

Speaker(s):

Myra Creighton is a partner in the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips, LLP. Her practice in labor and employment law focuses on litigation and counseling clients concerning issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and sexual harassment. She routinely presents seminars and training programs on those areas of the law.

Creighton authored the chapter entitled "Mental Disabilities Under the Americans with Disabilities Act" in the treatise, Mental and Emotional Injuries in Employment Litigation, Second Edition, published by the Bureau of National Affairs in 2001. She is co-author of "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Employee Assistance Programs As Sources of Liability," 24 Employee Relations Law Journal 79 (1998); and "Mental Disabilities Under the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Management Rights Approach," 20 Employee Relations Law Journal 541 (1995). Prior to joining the firm, Myra was a law clerk for Judge Duross Fitzpatrick of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• Basic components and benefits of an EAP
• How an employee’s use of EAP services may create “perceived as” disabled issues
• Strategies to protect you from discrimination claims
• ERISA implications of EAPs
• Ways to ensure confidentiality and avoid trouble
• Steps you can take now to manage the potential risks of an EAP