FMLA Compliance Virtual Summit Agenda

Each session is approximately 45 minutes in length / Total time: 6 hours

Session 1:
Introduction & Refresher of FMLA Basics
In this opening session, your faculty will provide a crash course on FMLA management basics before diving into the program’s advanced topics. Key learning objectives will include bringing you up to speed on FMLA’s eligibility requirements, coverage issues, notice requirements, types of FMLA leave, reinstatement issues, and benefits requirements.
Speakers: Kara E. Shea, Stacie L. Caraway & John B. Phillips, Jr.

Session 2:
When is FMLA “In the Picture”? How to Properly Apply FMLA to An Employee’s Leave Request
Because employees don’t always know they’re entitled to FMLA leave, they won’t necessarily come up to you and announce, “I have a serious health condition for which I need 60 days of FMLA leave.” Yet in many circumstances, HR will be considered to have received notice that an employee needs FMLA leave -- even if he or she didn’t directly request it. It’s just one of the complexities behind this law, and this session will aim to clear up the confusion that HR has when it comes to applying FMLA to an employee’s leave request -- even if the words “family and medical leave” are never uttered.

Key Learning Objectives:
* Recognizing serious health conditions and other qualifying reasons for leave * Employer’s duty to inquire further when an employee is absent for a reason that may be FMLA-protected, including:
-- Does the employee or a family member have a serious health condition?
-- Is the absence related to a family member’s military service?
-- Does FMLA apply to employees who are adopting?
* Understanding tricky employee eligibility issues, including:
-- Employee who returns from USERRA leave that may be immediately eligible for FMLA leave
-- Employee who has been recently reemployed after a substantial break
-- How to apply the 1,250 hours worked requirement to exempt employees -- who don’t typically track their time
Speakers: Kara E. Shea, Stacie L. Caraway & John B. Phillips, Jr.

Session 3:
How to Put the Brakes on FMLA’s Paper Chase
Keeping up with FMLA’s exhausting paper trail ranks as one of HR’s most frustrating challenges. FMLA imposes a variety of notice requirements, from general information that must be provided to all employees to very specific information required in a denial of FMLA leave. In this session, we’ll tackle the root cause of frustration that many have with FMLA and provide a common-sense approach for managing the federal leave law’s maze of notice and paperwork requirements.

Key Learning Objectives:
* An update of what your employee handbook should actually say about FMLA
* Getting a handle on what paperwork to send out -- and when
* What notice requirements are imposed on employers -- and the ramifications of failing to provide adequate notice?
* What are the specific requirements regarding designation of leave -- and the ramifications of failing to designate leave?
* What are your options when an employee does not provide adequate notice (i.e. insufficient information or untimely notice)?
* Issues dealing with medical certifications and recertifications
* Handling fitness for duty certificates
Speaker: Stacie L. Caraway

Session 4:
How FMLA Interacts With An Employer’s Leave and Attendance Policies
The DOL has provided substantial guidance to aid employers in understanding the interaction of FMLA leave with paid leave and attendance policies. Are you up to speed on these policies? If not, find out how to manage this tricky relationship in this session and learn how to blend FMLA leave with your company’s leave and attendance policies.

Key Learning Objectives:
* The interaction between paid and unpaid leave polices and FMLA – when can you REQUIRE someone to take FMLA leave, when must it be paid, etc?
* Policies and procedures required in order to run FMLA leave concurrently with paid leave
* The interaction of workers compensation and disability benefits and FMLA leave
* Managing no fault attendance policies and FMLA
* Pitfalls of imposing employee discipline and termination based on absences that may be FMLA covered
* When Title VII and FMLA prohibit certain discriminatory leave policies
Speakers: Kara E. Shea & Stacie L. Caraway

Session 5:
When FMLA Intersects With Mental Health and Substance Abuse Issues
Administering FMLA leave can be particularly difficult when an employee suffers from a mental or emotional condition or has a substance abuse problem. Because employees frequently try to hide the existence of such conditions, your only notice that they need FMLA leave may be their conduct, attendance, or performance problems. In this session, you will receive expert legal advice for handling these sensitive issues without being accused of discrimination or privacy violations.

Key Learning Objectives:
* What mental conditions and substance abuse problems qualify as serious health conditions?
* How to address FMLA in situations where mental health or substance abuse is the issue
* Juxtaposition with ADA? Is an interactive process required or even permitted?
* How employers should handle communications with family members in these circumstances
Speakers: Kara E. Shea, Stacie L. Caraway & John B. Phillips, Jr.

Session 6:
FMLA Enforcement Update
Paid and unpaid leave mandates are a popular subject of legislation at both the federal and state levels. In 2008 alone, Congress added dramatic new military family leave requirements to the FMLA. It appears as though Congress isn’t done yet, as it and many state legislatures are considering adding other paid leave requirements. Plus, the DOL is preparing to release new final FMLA regulations intended to clarify a variety of issues this fall. Find out where FMLA’s heading and what you need to do now to get ready for the slew of enforcement changes that are about to hit.

Key Learning Objectives:
* Review of the new FMLA regulations and status report of additional proposed regulatory and statutory changes
* Update on new state medical leave laws
* Review of possible paid sick leave laws pending in Congress
* Overview of the most interesting FMLA cases of 2008
Speaker: Kara E. Shea

Session 7:
Pushing Back on FMLA: Dealing With Employees Who Manipulate the System
The biggest problem that employers face in FMLA compliance may be knowing when to say, “Enough is enough.” You want to give employees all the leave to which they are entitled, and most employees want nothing more than that. But what do you do about those who abuse the system? Like the migraine sufferer who always takes intermittent FMLA leave on a Friday or Monday? The employee who works another job while on leave for back surgery? In this session, your expert panel will address these and other scenarios to show how far employers can go in dealing with FMLA’s habitual abusers -- without getting into legal hot water.

Key Learning Objectives:
* Strategies for dealing with employees who abuse FMLA
* What to do when employees bring in suspicious or incomplete paperwork
* Managing intermittent leave challenges
* Responding to an employee who has no leave left
Speakers: Kara E. Shea, Stacie L. Caraway & John B. Phillips, Jr.

Session 8:
Your Tough FMLA Questions Answered
Perplexed by an unusual FMLA leave requests? Don’t know how to respond to the problem employee who requests leave right before you were planning to fire him? Need expert guidance on reconciling FMLA with pregnancy leave? Exasperated by the prospect of learning new rules and regs and how you’re going to stay compliant with the changes? Well, there’s good news for the FMLA tired and confused, because we designed a session that gives you the forum to have your FMLA questions answered. In this session, you and your fellow attendees will control the session and the content. Our panel of experts will answer your FMLA questions and help you wrap your mind around the intricacies (and inconsistencies) of the federal leave law. Don’t be shy! Our expert panel is ready to help tackle your tough FMLA challenges.
Speakers: Kara E. Shea, Stacie L. Caraway & John B. Phillips, Jr.

Your Workshop Leaders...

Stacie L. Caraway is Of Counsel at the firm Miller & Martin and concentrates her practice in the areas of labor and employment. Ms. Caraway is currently part of a regional civil litigation team, which advises national franchises and other companies concerning general employment and labor law issues; and develops, reviews, and updates human resource policies, supporting contracts and materials. She also represents these companies in all local, state and federal legal proceedings including labor arbitrations, EEOC and state human rights commission investigations, settlement mediations and lawsuits throughout the United States.

Nationally-acclaimed attorney, author, and speaker John B. Phillips, Jr. is Partner at the firm Miller & Martin. He has also served as VP and Deputy General Counsel for Labor & Employment with Coca-Cola Enterprises, and has worked hand-in-hand with HR professionals across the country in making difficult employment decisions day-in and day-out.

Mr. Phillips is also the host of HR Hero’s latest DVD training program, “Executive Summary: Employment Law for the C-Suite,” and leads customized workplace issues seminars for senior managers. He is the author of two books on employment law and has written numerous articles for a variety of business and HR publications. He is listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” for labor and employment. His engaging and clear delivery, coupled with a deep understanding of key employment law issues, has made him an in-demand speaker and trainer in a variety of corporate settings.

Kara E. Shea is a Partner at the firm Miller & Martin and provides practical advice on employment issues and compliance to national, regional, and local employers of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, in a variety of industries. She also represents employers before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and in litigation, including discrimination, retaliatory discharge, whistleblower, and wage and hour cases, including class actions. Ms. Shea has briefed cases presented to both the Tennessee Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court.

Ms. Shea regularly speaks on employment-related topics and provides supervisory training on topics including FMLA and FLSA compliance, conducting workplace investigations, and implementing employee discipline. Ms. Shea has also been a regular columnist for the Nashville City Paper and is the co-editor of the Tennessee Employment Law Letter.