8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. - Continental Breakfast & Registration
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Program
As the first in a 3-part series on HR for the Family Business, this workshop will continue the overall theme of the IFOB year: Growing and Protecting your Family Business. Register for one, two or all three as unique topics will be discussed in each. Open to all!
Led by IFOB Associate Partner members Deb Whitworth, HR Studio Group, LLC and Tawny Alvarez, Verrill Dana, LLP, participants will understand the importance of providing appropriate and defensible employee personnel file documents by identifying what to include as well as what not to include in a personnel file. Participants will also gain an understanding of how to have those "difficult conversations" that need to be had so employees are not surprised when presented with written performance improvement documentation.
We'll answer the question: Is your employee file documentation defensible?
The importance of maintaining defensible employment documentation cannot be overstated. Think of an employee personnel file like a puzzle where all of the pieces fit together nicely to create a picture of employment. Big picture thinking puts all of these small employee file puzzles together into one large mural that creates the puzzle of your organization. When you look at each individual employee file puzzle, do you see holes? If you see holes in individual puzzles, then you will have holes in your organization's mural. And, consequently, you will have holes in the defense of your employment practices should a claim be brought against your organization.
Other topics will include how to train managers to be cognizant of HR issues and to teach them how to execute a written evaluation or warning and minimize the adverse impact of the documents (or maximize possible defenses) in potential future litigation.
Deb Whitworth, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is Owner and CEO of HR Studio Group, LLC. Throughout her 30 years of human resources management and leadership experience, Deb has helped a variety of nonprofit and for-profit services and industries build and maintain compliant cultures of excellence. Deb currently serves as a Commissioner with the Maine Human Rights Commission. An outspoken advocate for disability rights, she was pleased to be elected in 2015 to the board of The Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness. Named the Maine HR Leader of the Year in 2012, Deb is a frequent presenter on human resources and compliance topics at conferences and business functions. She is also an instructor in the HR Certificate Program at University of Southern Maine; Adjunct Faculty at Thomas College; and a guest lecturer at University of New England. Deb instructs the SHRM-SCP/SHRM-CP HR Certification Preparatory Course at University of Southern Maine and Kaplan University.
Tawny Alverez centers her practice on the understanding that the employment landscape is ever-changing—from medical marijuana’s effect on drug testing, to the effect of social networking in the workplace and mobile devices’ effect on wage and hour issues. In this evolving landscape she recognizes that for companies to remain profitable and successful they must be proactive, as opposed to reactive, to these employment issues. Tawny is the 2008 recipient of the Adolf Homburger Humanitarian Award and prides herself on giving back to the community. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Portland Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) and serves on the Portland Museum of Art Contemporaries Steering Committee. She obtained her BS from Thomas College and her JD at Pace University School of Law. Attendees will have the chance to share their experiences and ask questions along with time to network with other businesses.
For more information contact: catherine@fambusiness.org )
