Leader-Led Solutions
Seyfarth Shaw at Work offers a wide range of high-energy, interactive leader-led
training programs that are specifically designed and delivered to increase participant “buy in,”
and to teach the fundamentals of employment law without the legalese. Using training tools, props,
interactive exercises, role-plays, Q&A, and universal languages, SSAW delivers dynamic training
programs that result in an entertaining learning experience that is effective and
memorable.
SSAW has a nationwide cadre of talented, experienced and entertaining attorney trainers allowing for timely implementation and staffing of training programs.
Companion Courses:
If your organization has a highly skilled in-house training team and/or a substantial library/university of internal course offerings, please note that our key modules are increasingly deployed as critical "companion" courses to support internal messages and existing programs through a fresh, entertaining and powerful "outside litigator's" perspective. Many clients see renewed enthusiasm for their internally-delivered courses (and a more tangible defense) after an SSAW deployment. We can, as a first step, offer strategic suggestions as to which SSAW courses would serve as the most integrated and seemless enhancement for your current offerings.
As our leader-led courses can be customized to include those topics that are most relevant to each particular client, there is countless combinations of possible leader-led programs. The following are descriptions of our most popular courses:
Conduct-Related Courses:
The Road to a Harassment-Free Workplace
Based on your organization's anti-harassment policy, this training uses interactive exercises, innovative training tools, role-plays, and hypotheticals for participants to develop judgment about workplace conduct and responsibilities. With a focus on understanding sexual harassment as well as other forms of prohibited harassment in the workplace, such as harassment based on race, gender, national origin, disability, age, religion and veteran status, the course is offered in both employee and manager versions, and is customized to your work environment.
Based on participant groups, the course can be delivered so that it complies with all applicable state training requirements, including California, Connecticut and Maine statutory mandates, and has also been approved and identified by name by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the context of specific Consent Decrees, as well as selected by federal agencies for use in critical enforcement situations.
The Road to a Harassment-Free Workplace provides your organization with the training necessary to help protect and defend against harassment claims and liability. This course is not just about helping an organization create an affirmative defense against liability and damages; it also provides your workforce the tools to create behavioral change and an environment of mutual respect.
Refresher: The Road to a Harassment-Free Workplace
This course covers latest trends information utilizing new exercises, examples and scenarios. Covering the entire spectrum of topics found in The Road to a Harassment-Free Workplace, our harassment prevention refresher course often focuses its delivery on one or more of the key harassment “danger zones,” including: comments on personal appearance; work-related off-premises conduct; nicknames; stereotypes; touching; dating/initiating personal relationships; jokes; and e-mail/Internet. In addition, our refresher version provides advanced skill building for both employees and managers in day-to-day conduct and responses, while meeting all state statutory requirements.
The Road to a Harassment-Free Workplace: Special Focus Conduct Course
Often organizations find a need to focus on one protected category or a particular conduct issue. From gender sensitivity and sexual orientation issues to the myriad of religious discrimination challenges to disability concerns, this course provides an in-depth review of a single topic, while also reviewing key related topics such as retaliation, reporting and confidentiality. Like our Road to a Harassment-Free Workplace series, the Special Focus Conduct Course is offered in both employee and manager version and is customized to your work environment in an interactive format.
E-Mail and Internet: Misuse, Misconduct and Mistakes
This interactive and high-energy training comprehensively covers the risks and best practices
associated with e-mail use, as well as emphasizing the notion of a “business system” and the
related expectations and responsibilities of all employees and managers in utilizing your company’s
electronic communications systems. Throughout this training, participants will refer to your
company’s electronic communications policy, as well as any related harassment policies and code of
conduct sections.
Participants achieve a fuller understanding of their responsibilities and the risks
associated with accessing inappropriate sites via the internet or sending/forwarding emails
referencing gender, race, religion, disability or other protected categories. Participants
also will learn the three greatest "Danger Zones" related to e-mails today, including the enormous
risks associated with defamation. The Course also addresses related topics such as:
confidentiality; proprietary information; unfair competition; e-mail and record retention; data
security; intellectual property and financial reporting. Managers and employees successfully
also achieve the critical skills to “take a moment” and use proper business judgment and
appropriate email etiquette before drafting, forwarding or sending e-mails.
Executive Briefing: Harassment/Discrimination/Corporate Compliance – Latest Trends and Risks
This comprehensive interactive presentation on liability, and how to quickly limit or avoid it, is customized for your organization’s upper-level executive team. The two-hour presentation on labor and employment issues, as well as topics relating to an organization’s code of ethics/conduct policy, offers practical guidance on current case law, pre-litigation strategies and liability prevention issues. Increasing risks related to personal and corporate liability and latest training-based defenses are addressed. Options include incorporating an organization’s harassment prevention policy and other related policies into the presentation and providing customized handouts. Global corporations often target this session to cover international trends and fostering “one company” approach to critical compliance issues.
Code of Conduct - The Roots of Compliance
This course incorporates your organization’s code of conduct policy into a high-energy interactive experience in which participants will be made aware of your organization’s social and legal responsibilities, ethical expectations and values. Course module content may include: conflicts of interest; acceptance and giving of gifts; inbound/outbound immigration processes; outside employment/ownership in other businesses; nepotism Issues; record retention; confidentiality and proprietary information; data security and privacy; technological resources; intellectual property issues; financial reporting; antitrust; international trade and export controls, US government regulations/contracts/investigations; environmental issues and impacts: and political contributions/lobbying/gifts. This course can also be easily customized to address federal government regulations requiring business ethics and compliance awareness programs for federal contractors.
From Ethics to Our Core Values
Utilizing your Core Values as the dynamic basis, we take participants through a series of challenging and realistic ethical scenarios. Often taught in conjunction with code of conduct training, From Ethics to Our Core Values training emphasizes content and policies that impact an organization’s and/or person’s moral code and principles. While an organization’s policies are addressed, ethical workplace dilemmas, problems and decision-making are emphasized. This course can also be easily customized to address federal government regulations requiring business ethics and compliance awareness programs for federal contractors.
Seyfarth Shaw at Work can help you create an effective set of universal core values that will translate into powerful and practical training messages.
Working Within the Code
The course provides essential training to non-supervisory employees in every day language about their organization’s code of conduct policy. Employees are given a basic understanding of how to identify workplace misconduct, and how to report such conduct that violates your policy. Practical steps for confronting and resolving workplace issues are also addressed. In the harassment and EEO contexts, the course can doubly serve as a refresher course, covering all protected categories, including race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, etc. For organizations with a global presence, Working Within the Code can be customized to address relevant international laws, inbound/outbound immigration processes, trends and country-specific policies.
Confidentiality and the Code
While the myriad of issues related to confidentiality are addressed in our Roots of Compliance Course, organizations with sensitive and proprietary materials often require a more in-depth analysis of confidentiality concerns. From Non-Disclosure Agreements to Non-Compete Clauses to general Confidentiality Agreements, this course utilizes an organization’s pertinent policies to emphasize the importance of keeping protected information safe, as well as educating employees as to what information should be protected. The course highlights how electronic communications, including e-mails, often conflicts with an organization’s confidentiality rules and what type of information can properly be discussed with third parties, including, customers, vendors and family members.
Fraud, Conflict of Interest and Abuse
Utilizing an organization’s code of conduct policy, the course focuses on policies and both federal and state laws that lend themselves to fraud, conflict of interest and abuse claims. Tailored to an organization’s own specific issues, this course covers such topics as conflicts of interest; acceptance and giving of gifts; outside employment/ownership in other businesses; financial reporting; and political contributions/lobbying/gifts. Teaching tools such as role-plays, hypotheticals and other interactive techniques stress real life examples found in the financial and professional services industries.
Industry specific versions of this course are available. For example, our health care versions have an emphasis on topics including HIPAA, Medicare/Medicaid billing, working with HMO’s, false cost reports and DRG creep.
Communication in the Workplace/Interpersonal Skills and Issues
Open and candid communication among all employees in the workplace is a key to preventing workplace disputes, complaints and lawsuits, as well as strengthening employee unity and morale. However, all organizations must confront conflict. This course provides organizations and its people the skills to understand what causes interpersonal conflicts as well as skills to resolve interpersonal conflict at different levels. Strategies such as mediation, team meetings, implementing group goals, and searching for common solutions are all analyzed as ways to address workplace conflict. In addition, approaches to keeping the workplace environment comfortable and respectful are also discussed.
Manager/HR Training Courses:
Managing Within the Law
All too often in dealing with employees, managers without proper employment law training, create
problematic situations that can turn into expensive lawsuits, tarnish an employer's reputation, and
waste precious company resources.
Managing Within the Law is a full day program, addressing critical employment
law areas that your leaders, managers and supervisors confront on a daily basis. The course
provides your management team with the skills to quickly identify and effectively resolve
workplace issues, while minimizing personal and organizational liability. Course
modules generally include: “Latest Trends in the Nuts and Bolts of Discrimination," "Setting
Expectations/Interviewing for Hiring and Promotion, Today,” “Harassment Prevention Update,”
"Performance Management Trends and Skills" (which includes, feedback skills, responding to erratic
performers, and absenteeism and tardiness issues), "Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA),
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Religious Accommodation issues," and "Latest Trends in
Performance Documentation."
A module on the wage/hour Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) can also be included.
Like our harassment prevention modules, this course has also been reviewed, approved and identified by name by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the context of specific Consent Decrees, cited by EEOC Monitors in their reports and selected by federal agencies for use in critical enforcement situations. Where applicable, the course can cover state statutory harassment requirements.
Managing Within the Law: International Version
For organizations that have an international presence, our EEOC-approved Managing Within the Law course can be easily customized to ensure that relevant international laws and trends are reviewed and examined—from EU Directives to Chinese labor laws. Whether all modules must address international laws or an additional module is needed to review relevant international laws and trends, the Managing Within the Law: International version can be tailored to fit your organization’s special needs.
Owning the Green
Based on the EEOC-approved Managing Within the Law template, our Owning the Green course focuses on the problematic issues that do not violate EEO law. Employees cause a myriad problems and situations for organizations that require management investigation and response. When those issues do not potentially run afoul of an organization's harassment or EEO policy, managers, rather than HR, often are chosen to investigate and resolve the problems.
Utilizing the topics found in our Managing Within the Law course, such as: Nuts and Bolts of Discrimination; Performance Management and Performance Documentation; this program first reacquaints managers with the "Green, Yellow and Red’ conduct line and reinforces earlier training to help managers better understand and determine which issues are appropriate for their own investigation and resolution--those issues that are in the ‘Green’. Once issues are found to be in the ‘Green’, the course provides tools and techniques for managers to properly and proficiently investigate and resolve the situation.
Advanced Managing Within the Law – Round II
This practical, skill-based course provides a comprehensive update tailored to your organization, and is specifically designed to track the sequence of topics previously covered in Managing Within the Law. While also based on a course template that has been reviewed and approved in the context of specific consent decrees, this course further and more deeply focuses on and helps participants master a select number of subtle, often-overlooked and risky employment potholes related to all areas of supervision/management. We customize the delivery with you, so that relevant and organization-specific challenges facing managers as well as the latest strategies to confront them and to avoid both inferences and stereotypical thinking in leadership are meaningfully explored. Advanced Managing Within the Law - Round II provides a number of critical opportunities for your managers and supervisors to practice and master effective, successful and safe advanced interviewing, documentation and performance management skills.
Navigating Within the Law – Intensive H.R. Training
This course enables human resource professionals to successfully develop the advanced skills necessary to guide managers and, where necessary, directly manage employee issues. H.R. professionals learn the specific role they play as policy “role models” and representatives, as well as the critical importance of the “reasonable care defense” that they must facilitate. The training contains an in-depth policy-based overview, a review of state and local protected categories and the latest trends concerning employer liability.
H.R. professionals also learn how to effectively deal with employee issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and requests for accommodations as well as the ways in which these laws and employee rights interrelate. Drugs, alcohol, absenteeism, tardiness, poor performance, contesting unemployment eligibility and workplace violence are also covered. A variety of highly interactive exercises facilitates understanding and provide practical experience for H.R. professionals of all experience levels.
The Doorway to Successful Workplace Investigations for HR
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued Guidance that specifically addresses the need for employers to conduct effective and thorough investigations. As a result, Seyfarth Shaw at Work has developed a training program that will help your organization meet the EEOC’s mandate and provide key defenses in litigation. Skills achieved in this course include: understanding the rights of the complainant, accused, and witnesses; choosing an appropriate investigator; developing a detailed investigation plan; reviewing documents; drafting interview statements/questions; conducting interviews; assessing information; and reaching an appropriate and defensible decision with confidence.
Teaching points are reinforced with role-playing, hypotheticals, group activities and other interactive exercises.
The Doorway to Successful Workplace Investigations – Code of Conduct: For Ethics,
Safety/Security, Audit Professionals and HR
Rather than focusing on harassment/discrimination investigations, this version of The Doorway to Successful Workplace Investigations focuses on building a foundation of investigation skills through a practical and step-by-step series of exercises dealing with ethical and corporate compliance topics, including: conflict of interest, safety and security, expense report fraud, document retention and preservation, drugs/alcohol, theft, environmental issues and anti-trust.
Navigating Leaves of Absence
Navigating Leaves of Absence teaches professionals of all experience levels the skills to effectively deal with employee leave issues. Incorporating your organization’s policies and procedures, the course teaches the nuts and bolts of the different federal and state leave of absence laws. Through a variety of highly interactive exercises and the use of practical tools, including a 4-step approach to leaves of absence, professionals are taught a systematic approach to addressing leaves. These skills will help ensure issues such as concurrent leave, availability of paid time off, and certification requirements are properly addressed for employees. This course also includes a specific module on engaging in the interactive process when facing a request for reasonable accommodation.
Navigating the Interactive Process
This course provides an in-depth review of the reasonable accommodation interactive process. Participants will learn when and how to engage in the interactive process, and why engaging in the interactive process is necessary. Interactive tools and techniques will be provided to participants to best ensure that the entire process is conducted legally, and that decisions are based on appropriate and sound reasoning. A full and comprehensive Interactive Process Roadmap is mastered by participants.
Management Skills Training – The Hiring Highway
This course gives managers the opportunity to focus attention on how to properly set expectations at the beginning of an employment relationship, and why setting expectations is so crucial. Role-plays are emphasized in the hiring and promotion settings, and managers are not only taught what questions can be asked, but how questions should be asked and how to properly follow-up to an interviewee’s answers and avoid protected characteristic discussions. An optional module dealing with hiring and promoting a diverse workforce is often incorporated.
Management Skills Training - Verbal Coaching
This course gives managers the opportunity to take a Personal Coaching Skills Inventory that pinpoints their verbal strengths and helps overcome their verbal weaknesses. Participants learn how employees' perceptions become the managers' reality; winning phrases and words to avoid; and how to say what you mean and mean what you say. Participants engage in a series of realistic "coaching" episodes and exercises.
Management Skills Training - Written Documentation
The "why" of written documentation is reinforced in this course. Participants will learn skills to help streamline the documentation process; the mechanics of progressive discipline; and how to discipline or discharge for "attitude.” Participants engage in a series of realistic "written documentation" episodes and exercises and key concepts are reinforced through the debriefing of participant’s own documentation efforts.
Management Skills Training - Interviewing
To assist in finding the most qualified candidate for the job, participants in this course practice how to develop safe questions and obtain needed information from job applicants. Managers learn how to ask questions within the law; hire for "attitude"; use questioning techniques that get what they want; and properly communicate to rejected applicants. Participants participate in hands-on drafting of job descriptions, preparing for and conducting interviews, and documenting the questions and answers.
The 21st Century Manager
This newly develped course examines those issues that managers will likely be faced with in the
coming years. Multiculturalism in the workplace and all its ramifications are thoroughly
analyzed through exercises dealing with English-only and language barriers, possible immigration
reform, diversity and reverse discrimination threats, as well as religious tolerance and
bullying. International trends are also discussed, with an emphasis on EU, Chinese and Indian
laws and their influence on American workplaces. How our health care system impacts the
workplace is also examined, with an emphasis on genetic testing, COBRA, the graying of the
workforce, and the legality of methods to defray health care costs through employee selection and
retention.
Work Environment Courses:
Positive Employee Relations
This is a hands-on workshop to help managers and supervisors view the work environment from an employee’s perspective, and understand what can contribute to a negative work environment. Participants will learn how to recognize the signs of union-organizing activity and how to respond effectively to these efforts, including eliminating or minimizing the impediments to a positive work environment, evaluating performance, and communicating more effectively with employees and peers.
Refresher: Positive Employee Relations
While reinforcing and updating skills that build a long-term awareness of union and employee relations issues addressed in our Positive Employee Relations Course, the refresher course emphasizes latest liability trends, best practices for leading and coaching and responding effectively to employee concerns, and observational proficiencies for recognizing what can contribute to a negative work environment.
Managing Within a Union Environment
A real life primer that provides managers with the tools needed to effectively manage within a union environment. Managers learn about their rights and responsibilities in supervising a union-represented workforce, including how to counsel and discipline employees, investigations, documentation, the grievance procedure, and the role of the union steward. The links between EEO-based rights and collective bargaining requirements are clarified through a series of interactive and realistic exercises.
Working Within the Green
Related to Positive Employee Relations, this employee course helps create a workplace where all employees develop a pride, commitment and a larger sense of responsibility to themselves, each other and the organization as well. The focus of Working in the Green is on the vital relationship between every employee and the organization, and the critical connection between themselves and their managers and supervisors. Mutual respect, code of conduct policies and performing quality work are all appropriately stressed. Building the skills to discuss and raise concerns to a variety of issues is also emphasized.
Working To Stay Safe: Violence Prevention in the Workplace
Managers and employees are provided tools and tactics to identify, respond and prevent violent behavior in the workplace. Reporting procedures related to safety and security threats and risks are also discussed. In addition, off premises behavior, ADA and the direct threat, medical impairments, homeland security, evacuation procedures and a wide range of often overlooked, but critical, related topics are covered.
Valuing Diversity in the Workplace/Multicultural Realities Today
This course helps organizations avoid glass ceiling liability and other EEO exposure by teaching how to recruit, hire, manage, retain, and promote women and minorities in today’s socially diverse work environment. Filters stereotypes, bias and targeted client specific inclusion initiatives are of equal focus. The course can also be focused specifically on the business reasons behind diversity initiatives and the risk of not seeking a more diverse workforce. Global and mobile/rotating workforces require an understanding for and ability to successfully interact and manage across cultures in a legally appropriate and appropriately sensitive manner. A series of interactive and real-life exercises enable participants to successfully adapt to and master the nuances of today's global workforce and marketplace.
Managing in a Changing Environment
This course was developed to assist managers and professionals with the myriad issues that arise
during times of change. Form the legal ramifications of layoffs and RIF’s and WARN act
compliance, to mergers and acquisitions, to the increase in employee absences, moonlighting
activities and requests for leave, the course focuses on ways to maintain employee morale, loyalty
and commitment throughout these often difficult times.