Event Details

Advance event registration is now closed.  You may register and pay and the door for an additional $10 fee.

***Approved for 3 GENERAL recertification credits by the HR Certification Institute*** 

Hot Topics in Employment Law - An HRMA Legal Seminar

Presented by:

Frank P. Spada, Jr.
Attorney at Law
Pepper Hamilton, LLP

 Steven M. Berlin, Esq.
Partner
Martin Clearwater & BellLLP

Mike Canavan
Attorney
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

In these challenging economic times, employers and human resource professionals continue to grapple with the challenges presented by changing laws, new judicial interpretations of existing laws, and evolving notions of acceptable conduct in the workplace.  Please join the HRMA’s member lawyers Frank P. Spada, Jr., Esq. (Moderator) from Pepper Hamilton LLP; Steven M. Berlin, Esq. from Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP; and Michael J. Canavan, Esq. from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC as they review the latest legal developments affecting HR professionals today.  Some of the topics to be covered include:

• The Latest on Social Media and the Workplace
• Agreements to Arbitrate Employment Disputes – Recent Guidance from the Courts
• Employment-Related Decisions of Note by the U.S. Supreme Court and New Jersey Federal and State courts and how they will affect employers
• Practical Tips for HR Professionals
  • FLSA – When Mother Nature Causes Havoc
  • The Employee and Unauthorized O.T.
  • “Textual” Harassment
  • The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on the Use of Criminal Records

About the Speakers

Frank P. Spada, Jr. is a partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Princeton office. He represents management in all areas of employment law and labor relations and has been doing so since 1986.  Mr. Spada’s practice includes counseling clients on human resource issues, including discipline, hiring, firing and better productivity through employee relations. He also advises clients regularly on the development and enforcement of confidentiality, non-competition, severance and release agreements.  He has handled numerous cases through trial and appeal concerning employment contracts and FLSA issues and in the discrimination area, including race, sex, age, disability and religious discrimination matters. He represents employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and other state agencies throughout the country. He also has handled many matters in the enforcement or defense of non-competition/non-solicitation/non-disclosure clauses in many states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  In the labor law area, Mr. Spada assists management in dealing with unions in collective bargaining negotiations, arbitrations, unfair labor practice proceedings, mass picketing and other injunction actions, union elections and de-certifications in the public and private sectors.

Mr. Spada represents employers ranging from small businesses to large corporations with multiple facilities and spanning a number of industries, including trucking, construction, manufacturing, graphics, computer, restaurant, clothing and health care.  Mr. Spada has presented many seminars in a number of employment areas, including hiring and firing, sexual harassment, age discrimination, disability discrimination, diversity in the workplace, union avoidance, workplace investigations and exempt/non-exempt classifications under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Mr. Spada is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business (B.B.A. 1982), and Temple University School of Law (J.D. 1986). He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Steven M. Berlin is a Partner with Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP and is the head of that firm’s Employment and Labor Practice Group.  He is an experienced litigator with over 20 years' experience in the employment and labor arena.  Mr. Berlin represents companies and executives in a wide range of issues that arise out of the employer-employee relationship from hiring to termination; provides counseling and advice, prepares contracts and policies, and aggressively litigates claims when they arise in federal and state courts, administrative agencies, and arbitration.  He is a frequent speaker and has written for several publications, including being a contributing author for the Mathew Bender Employment Litigation in New Jersey treatise.  He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been continuously named a New Jersey Super Lawyer since 2005 and a New York Super Lawyer in 2012.  Mr. Berlin received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and his B.S. from the University of Maryland’s College of Journalism.  He is admitted to practice in both New Jersey and New York, as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Michael J. Canavan is an attorney with the law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC in Princeton, New Jersey, where he focuses his practice on representing employers in employment counseling and litigation matters.  He is a member of the Board and the Treasurer of GPHRA.  Mr. Canavan counsels and represents employers regarding a broad spectrum of employment issues.  He has experience litigating employment issues in federal and state courts, before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, and in arbitration and mediation settings.  Mr. Canavan conducts workplace training in the areas of harassment avoidance, whistleblower compliance, and wage and hour compliance.  He also regularly speaks and writes on employment law issues.  Mr. Canavan received his J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law and his B.A. from Rutgers University.  He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Maine courts.