This audio conference was recorded on Friday - May 22, 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:

Exempt or nonexempt? It’s a question that plagues many employers, and for good reason. Get it wrong – even with the best of intentions – and you could owe thousands or even millions in back pay and damages.

Earlier this year, Staples, Inc., was ordered to pay a staggering $2.5 million to a class of workers it wrongly classified as exempt. Not only did the jury find that the office supply retailer had misclassified several store managers as exempt, it also concluded that Staples had acted willfully - something that could taint the company’s reputation both inside its walls and out.

Staples may be fighting this battle for years, but it’s not too late for you to learn from their mistake. Order this in-depth audio conference recording and learn why you should be conducting regular, thorough exemption audits – and how to go about it.

Speaker(s):

Thomas N. Makris., Esq., is of counsel at the Sacramento, California, office of law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP. He has 20 years of experience in employment-related litigation, in addition to past experience as a senior professional in human resources. Makris assists clients in negotiating, drafting, and implementing effective employment and executive contracts, employee policies and handbooks, and other employment documentation, and he presents seminars on employment law-related topics. He is also a co-author and legal consultant for The Mutual Respect Program, a video-based sexual harassment training and prevention program.

Adrianne Miller, principal of Vienna Human Capital Advisors in Radnor, Pennsylvania, has over 25 years of strategic and practical HR experience and has served in HR leadership roles in the life sciences, logistics and supply chain, and biotechnology and information technology services industries. A member of the Society for Human Resource Management and World at Work, Miller is also an accredited Certified Compensation Practitioner.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• The legal hurdles you’ll have to overcome if an employee challenges his or her exempt status, and how you can meet your burden of proof if litigation arises
• The key questions your audit should address, including inquiries into salary deductions and predetermined amounts of work and compensation
• The essential techniques to employ so that you can maximize audit results and minimize potential legal exposure
• Best practices for obtaining accurate information about your workers’ job duties
• How much credence to give job titles
• How to use an exemption audit as a tool for boosting trust among your workforce
• How to analyze your audit findings - and what to do if you conclude a misclassification has occurred