In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, Jennifer Colvin (shareholder, Chicago), David Zwisler (shareholder, Denver), and Larry Shapero (shareholder, Seattle) discuss state law changes and trends expanding employee protections and employer obligations from CROWN Acts, rules regarding lawful off-duty conduct, and pay transparency mandates to prohibitions on noncompetes and NDAs. Jen, David, and Larry start off with a discussion of state laws on protected characteristics that are growing in number and scope across the country. The speakers also examine how states and local governments are expanding protections for historically and newly identified classes of individuals—varying widely by jurisdiction—and what employers need to know.

In this episode of Ogletree Deakins’ Cross-Border Catch-Up podcast series, Eric Lee (New York) is joined by Skye Hao (Atlanta) to discuss performance-based terminations in South Korea. Skye and Eric cover the stringent requirements and objective evaluation criteria mandated by the Labor Standards Act of Korea for an employer to discharge an employee for poor performance. They also review a recent supreme court ruling in South Korea, confirming the country’s high bar for unilateral termination of an employee based on performance.

In this installment of Ogletree Deakins’ TECHPLACE™ Talk series, Jenn Betts, who is co-chair of the firm’s Technology Practice Group, sits down with Justin Tarka and Patty Shapiro to talk about the European Union’s AI Act—which is the first comprehensive law in the world regulating artificial intelligence (AI). The speakers discuss how the new law regulates AI in employment with a risk-based approach. In particular, they discuss potential risks of using AI for screening employment applications, recruitment processes such as interviews, and related concerns surrounding employment exposure to sensitive and personal information.

In this episode of our Cross-Border Catch-Up podcast series, Komlavi Atsou (Cleveland) and Eric Lee (New York), both of whom are members of Ogletree Deakins’ Cross-Border Practice Group, discuss the trend away from the traditional concept of lifetime employment in Japan. Eric explains the traditional model that has been highly protective of employee rights with respect to termination, including requiring progressive discipline. The speakers also delve into some of the reasons Japan is moving away from lifetime employment, such as the declining population, the need to retain foreign talent, and employee and union demands for greater compensation.

In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, Phillip Russell (shareholder, Tampa) and Stephen Quezada (shareholder, Houston) discuss the critical role in-house counsel play in responding to and managing potential crisis situations employers are often forced to face. Stephen and Phillip explain the ways in which legal department lawyers need to manage their roles and responsibilities with varying stakeholders—both internal and external. Our speakers cover effective preparedness and responses and the potential landmines employers will want to avoid in situations ranging from high-profile claims of workplace misconduct, government enforcement actions, social justice issues, labor organizing, or workplace fatalities.

In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, Caren Marlowe (shareholder, Tampa) and Jim McGrew (chief client services officer, New Orleans) are joined by Sonya Granillo-Cathey (senior director and privacy officer, Arizona Tile) and Yvonne Taylor (chief human resources officer, Goodwill Industries-Suncoast, Inc.) to discuss how HR can collaborate with other leaders in an organization—from C-suite and in-house legal to HR and operations. The speakers discuss how they bring different perspectives to the table, while keeping in mind the common goal of managing a thriving and successful business. In addition, the speakers explain how to manage expectations and harmonize different leadership viewpoints to reach shared objectives, and how to deal with conflict and ensure a solid seat for HR at the table.

In this episode of our Cross-Border Catch-Up podcast series, Diana Nehro and Patty Shapiro discuss the employment law considerations that come into play during a global acquisition. Diana, chair of the firm’s Cross-Border Practice Group, and Patty review the important initial steps, including determining the makeup of the workforce, employee classification, employee locations, and terms of employment. The speakers also address overtime regulations (which may be more expansive than those in the United States), collective bargaining agreements, and collective and individual redundancies.

In this installment of Ogletree Deakins’ Safety Perspectives From the Dallas Region series, shareholders Frank Davis (Dallas) and John Surma (Houston) discuss OSHA’s national safety stand-down to prevent workplace falls. Frank and John specifically talk about assessing potential hazards, fall protection prevention, training and policies, and citations, as well as OSHA’s national and regional emphasis programs on fall prevention and protection in general industry operations and on construction job sites.

In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, Karen Morinelli (shareholder, Tampa), Burt Garland (shareholder, St. Louis), and Mike Matula (shareholder, Kansas City) discuss the increasingly common scenario of employees and managers making secret recordings in the workplace. Our speakers review when surreptitious recordings are lawful and when they might run afoul of the Federal Wiretap Act, federal labor laws, or state laws. They also discuss employers’ rights and risks when implementing and enforcing “no-recording” policies in addition to strategies for dealing with secret recordings when they are first disclosed in litigation.

In this podcast recorded at Ogletree Deakins’ national Workplace Strategies seminar, our panel discusses the latest requirements for multistate employers’ handbooks and how employers can keep up with the patchwork of federal, state, and local laws. Dee Anna Hays (shareholder, Tampa), who is chair of Ogletree Deakins’ Multistate Advice and Counseling Practice Group, joined by Todd Duffield (shareholder, Atlanta), and Heather Ptasznik (shareholder, Detroit (Metro)), cover trends regarding parental leave policies, the EEOC’s new guidance on harassment, and unlawful policies under the National Labor Relations Act. Todd and Dee Anna close out with a discussion of the tests the National Labor Relations Board uses to evaluate employer policies.