Event Details

HRMA of Princeton Annual Legal Seminar

HR’s Strategic Role in Advising Leadership on Return to Work and More - Ethical and Legal Considerations

Presented by:

Vanessa M. Kelly, Esq. / CLARK HILL PLC​

March 22, 2022 8:45am - 12:00pm

 **This program is approved for 3 general credit by HRCI and 3 professional development credits by SHRM**

Registration is complimentary

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Description:

Please join the HRMA of Princeton for our Annual Legal Update. 

Panel 1: “What Would Your Employee’s Lawyer Think?”

We are often called upon to provide advice on important employee relations questions. And sometimes, our managers and supervisors do not seek out our guidance in advance resulting in less than desirable outcomes. Wouldn’t it be nice to get some insight about how employee-side attorneys assess and evaluate cases? Where are the hidden landmines? What can we do to avoid the dreaded “lawyer’s letter” or worse, being served with a complaint or civil rights agency complaint?

Panel 2: “HR’s Strategic Role in Return to Work, Hybrid and Remote Workforce Planning: Ethical and Legal Considerations”

Now, more than ever, HR has become a prominent strategic partner to the C-Suite and Leadership. This panel will look at two key areas where HR practitioners can make a huge impact on ethical and legal compliance strategies. During this panel we will engage with our participants in robust discussion and brainstorming about issues involving employee’s mental and physical health and the safety of the employee and others in the workplace. We will also take a deep dive on HR’s role in ensuring wage and hour compliance. Special attention will be given to ethical concerns that arise and may prove challenging to HR professionals. We will be using breakout rooms and encourage our participants to be on video and engage for an interactive discussion.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES:

1. Gain understanding of the legal and ethical issues in managing employee relations issues, such as investigations, performance evaluations, leaves, etc.
2. Enhance understanding of compliance obligations in religious and disability accommodations
3. Gain deeper understanding of the ethical practices in post-COVID workplaces: Return to Work, Hybrid Work, Remote Work

Our Speakers:

Vanessa M. Kelly, Esq. is a partner with international and national law firm Clark Hill PLC.  Vanessa concentrates her practice on employment law and litigation.  She has over 30 years of experience in this practice area.  She is a frequent speaker at the American Bar Association's Section of Labor & Employment Law and has spoken at HRMA Princeton and Garden State SHRM meetings.  She is a prolific writer in this area and has conducted numerous webinars on employment topics, especially topics of relevance to COVID-19.

Clients partner with Vanessa Kelly when looking to create and foster respectful workplaces that comply with national and state employment standards. Vanessa counsels her management clients about their employee relations concerns. This counseling may include any manner of employment issues. For example: terminations, accommodating disabilities, workplace misconduct, protecting key employees and proprietary information, reductions in force, and using policies to avoid disputes. She creates employment and other transactional agreements to meet her client’s goals, including securing long-term executive employment, restructuring or reorganization, retention agreements, separation agreements and covenants restricting use of confidential information and deterring unfair competition.

Vanessa’s work with a variety of industries means she has the broad knowledge her clients need, while maintaining her deep roots within labor & employment. Industries include healthcare, insurance, professional service firms, manufacturers, airlines, auto dealers, professional organization (like accounting and law firms) , religious congregations, universities and K-12 schools, and executives.

When a client finds themselves a party to a lawsuit, Vanessa’s years of trial experience are invaluable, but her internal investigative work is the key to keeping these suits to a minimum. Vanessa investigates and then guides the client through the investigative process. As part of her preventative strategy, she trains HR teams, managers, and employees on a variety of employment topics. She assists clients with audits and other administrative agency proceedings. As a certified Title IX investigator Vanessa received training on trauma-informed investigation techniques and completed course work to serve as a Title IX hearing officer. In this capacity she provides counseling and compliance services for her university clients.

Vanessa’s pragmatic approach to counseling clients recognizes that employees and diverse teams are essential to business success, so she partners with her clients to create inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplaces. As a close confidante to business owners, chief executive officers, general counsel, employment counsel and HR directors, she provides sage advice based on open communication to achieve their objectives making her the collaborative leader her clients need.

Vanessa currently serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s BOLD initiative to promote women within the firm, the legal profession, and the business community. Vanessa also hosts a podcast series, “Leading in a Lonely World: Conversations with Transformative Leaders,” where she interviews community leaders who share their thoughts on leadership against the backdrop of a tumultuous world.