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This podcast, which was recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, features a review of the firm’s third annual benchmarking report, Strategies and Benchmarks for the Workplace: Ogletree’s Survey of Key Decision-Makers, which gathered feedback from nearly 1,100 in-house counsel and senior HR professionals. Our speakers, Bud Bobber, chair of the firm’s Manufacturing Practice Group, is joined by Chief Client Services Officer Jim McGrew, and Jenn Betts, who is co-chair of the firm’s Technology Practice Group, highlighted key findings and takeaways from the report, including the top labor and employment challenges for employers. The speakers also noted trends surrounding those challenges, which include hiring and retention, multistate compliance, pay transparency, AI in the workplace, and more.

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This episode of Workplace Strategies Watercooler, which was recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, features a discussion of reasonable accommodations issues emerging from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), state paid leave laws, and mini-FMLA laws. Our speakers, Shareholder Charles L. Thompson, IV, who is a co-chair of the Ogletree Deakins Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodations group, was joined by Shareholder Stacy M. Bunck (Kansas City) and Shareholder John G. Stretton (Stamford). The podcast addresses the many facets of employers’ accommodations obligations, including timeframes for action, the interactive process, documentation requirements, intermittent claims, and return-to-work issues.

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This episode of Multistate Monday, which was recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, features a discussion of how multistate employers can craft, revise, and implement handbooks in the face of emerging federal, state, and local developments. Our attorneys, Shareholder Dee Anna Hays, chair of Ogletree Deakins’ Multistate Advice and Counseling Practice Group, Shareholder Lucas Asper, Shareholder Christine Bestor Townsend, cochair of the firm’s Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets Practice Group, were joined by a guest speaker who is a senior human resources professional for a growing multistate employer. The panelists address key considerations in structuring multistate employment handbooks, the uptick in state limitations on restrictive covenants, and best practices related to the timing and consideration for such agreements.

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In this podcast, Frank Davis (Shareholder, Dallas) and John Surma (Shareholder, Houston)  discuss job hazard analysis and pre-test planning. Frank and John—both members of Ogletree’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group—address how and when to conduct an analysis, who to involve in the process, the importance of communication, and methods of documentation. They offer insights and best practices for identifying hazards so that they can be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable risk level.

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In this podcast, John Surma and Frank Davis are joined by Ryan Swink to discuss Texas’s Senate Bill (SB) 240—which imposes workplace violence requirements on covered healthcare facilities. Specifically, SB 240, which is also known as the Workplace Violence Prevention Act, requires health care facilities to adopt, implement, and enforce written workplace violence prevention programs and written prevention plans. The law also requires covered health care facilities to create workplace violence prevention committees and authorizes existing facility committees to develop a workplace violence prevention plan. The speakers also discuss how the new law interplays with Texas’s law on the open carry of firearms.

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In this podcast, John Surma and Frank Davis (both of whom are members of Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group) discuss Rapid Response Investigations (RRIs), a tool that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is using with increasing frequency. Frank and John review best practices for employer response to RRI letters, including the importance of timeliness; the utility of including a robust description of the employer’s business or industry and safety program; and a discussion on which employees to include on the employer’s investigation team.

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In this podcast, John Surma and Frank Davis, members of Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group discuss unprogrammed inspections conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Frank and John provide an overview of the four triggers of such inspections: imminent danger; fatalities and catastrophes; complaints by employees, unions, or third parties; and referrals by other agencies. They also offer practical takeaways for employers that may be subject to an unprogrammed inspection.

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This episode of Multistate Monday offers an informative overview of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). Dee Anna Hays, chair of Ogletree Deakins’ Multistate Advice and Counseling Practice Group, and Susan Gorey are joined by Christine Bestor Townsend, who fields as host of questions about employer obligations under the PUMP Act and the PWFA. Christine offers practical takeaways regarding interaction with other federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as state and local lactation laws. She also reviews coverage, enforcement and remedies, and pointers for developing well-defined and compliant policies for both acts.

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In this podcast, John Surma and Frank Davis, members of Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group, discuss the various types of citations that are issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In particular, Frank and John discuss what employers are required to do once they receive a citation, possible options on responding to citations, and employers’ response and abatement deadlines. John and Frank also discuss how employers can challenge a citation, how and when employers may decide to file a notice of contest, and whether to schedule an informal conference with OSHA.

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It has been an eventful year for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In this podcast, Awanti Damle and Kara Lancaster, members of Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group, provide a rapid-fire and informative summary of the top five immigration topics for employers. Awanti and Kara discuss proposed increases in filing fees for certain visa petitions, including H-1B and L-1 petitions, and the phased expansion of premium processing for some nonimmigrant and immigrant visa types. They also provide insight on pay transparency laws applicable for employers recruiting foreign nationals, the waiver of an in-person interview in the visa stamping process for some types of applications, and whether there will be an additional selection round in the annual H-1B lottery.