Join us for Kutak Rock's 17th Annual Employment Law Seminar

This year’s in-person seminar focuses on critical updates and strategies moving forward for today’s evolving work environment. We will be offering a full day of presentations at the Scott Conference Center November 14. See the agenda below for the full seminar schedule.

Scott Conference Center
6450 Pine St, Omaha, NE 68106

Five (5) hours of CLE credit in Nebraska and Iowa are pending as well as HRCI and SHRM credit.

Seminar Agenda

8:30 - 9:00 AM | Registration
 
9:00 - 9:30 AM | Gigi O'Hara | Fresh Off the Presses: Wage and Hour Considerations When Onboarding New Hires
Gigi O’Hara goes “on the record” to walk through various wage and hour considerations that are ripe at the inception of employment, such as establishing initial wage rates, determining employee exemption status in light of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new Final Rule, and reviewing compensable time requirements during the hiring process.

9:30 - 10:00 AM | Rob Toth | Command Center: Navigating the Latest Employment Law Updates
Rob Toth will highlight current issues in employment law, including recent legislative changes, significant court decisions, and practical strategies for compliance and risk management. The presentation will also cover emerging legal trends governing the integration of AI into workplace practices.

10:00 - 10:20 AM | Break
 
10:20 - 10:50 AM | Marcia Washkuhn | Tactical Maneuvers: Navigating Complicated Issues Involving Pregnant Workers
On June 18, 2024, the EEOC’s final regulations on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect. Employers are still grappling with how to evaluate and address pregnancy and pregnancy-related accommodation requests under these new requirements. Marcia Washkuhn will discuss the key provisions employers need to know to ensure proper application and compliance when addressing the needs of workers with pregnancy-related conditions, offering helpful hypotheticals to aid in that process. Among other things, Ms. Washkuhn will highlight how the PWFA regulations are similar to, as well as vastly different from the Americans Disabilities Act (ADA) in terms of documentation requests, leaves of absences, the interactive process, reasonable accommodation and undue hardship.

10:50 - 11:50 AM | Kasey Cappellano, Meaghan Gandy | DEFCON 3: Rational Solutions for Employee Crises
In today’s working world, employers are facing increasingly complex dilemmas brought on by rapidly changing state and federal laws. Kasey Cappellano and Meaghan Gandy will discuss the knotty problems that regularly arise in day-to-day management of employees. This presentation will cover numerous topics including leave and accommodation requests, DEI efforts, problems that arise when managing remote workers, uncommon characteristics protected by antidiscrimination laws, and the interaction of state leave laws with federal laws. Ms. Cappellano and Ms. Gandy will provide practical advice for HR professionals and legal counsel who address employee management questions, including tools to help employers spot obligations and legal risks.

11:50 AM - 12:30 PM | Lunch
 
12:30 - 1:30 PM | Jay Jackson | Decent Discourse
Decent Discourse offers a hopeful, helpful, and historical way to push back against the war-like language and echo chambers that dominate today’s political discourse. With families and friendships being torn apart and more Americans than ever feeling that violence is justified to advance their political goals, attorney and veteran Jay Jackson builds the case for “decent discourse,” showing how Americans have solved the immense challenges of our past with truth, humility, and compassion – in other words, by loving our neighbors (even when they might be wrong). With humor and optimism, Jackson shows that decent discourse is the answer to our country’s woes and offers hope that you personally can make a difference. Jackson’s presentation will cover key provisions of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rule 1.1 (Competence) and Rule 3.3 (Candor).

1:30 - 1:45 PM | Break
 
1:45 - 2:15 PM | Clete Samson | Regulatory Watch: A Compliance Reminder for Employers in a Heightened Era of Scrutiny
Employers are facing heightened scrutiny from the DOJ and FTC, among other agencies, on various employment practices impacting employee rights. Companies must navigate an array of compliance challenges at state and federal levels. This session will provide a comprehensive overview of various regulatory topics including antitrust red-flags for employment practices, the FTC’s recent ban on noncompetes nationwide, and enforcement related to citizenship discrimination at the time of hire.

2:15 - 2:45 PM | Bob Wees | Business Immigration: Adapting to Political Shifts and Ensuring Compliance for Employers
The session will provide a comprehensive overview of employment-based immigration topics within the context of the 2024 election season and potential changes in the presidential administration. Focus will also cover It will cover strategies for recruiting and retaining foreign national workers, employer compliance considerations related to multiple work locations, work-from-home arrangements concerning H-1B and PERM concerns. There will also be a short section to address M&A activities with a focus on L-1A and H-1B concerns. Overall, the section will be emphasizing the compliance aspects that are pertinent to HR while highlighting potential challenges employers might encounter in the upcoming 4 years.

2:45 - 3:00 PM | Break
 
3:00 - 3:30 PM | Brian Bartels | Mission Possible: Navigating Employee Benefit Challenges for 2025
Employers continue to face pressure to provide attractive benefit packages while controlling costs and ensuring their plans are compliant and up-to-date. This session will address recent trends in fiduciary and health plan litigation, new HIPAA requirements to protect reproductive health care-related information, mental health parity, and other developments affecting employee benefit plans and their sponsors.

3:30 PM | Raffle Drawing