On this podcast, Philadelphia employment attorney Jonathan Segal joins XpertHR Legal Editor David Weisenfeld to discuss what's wrong with the annual performance review process and how to fix it. Segal is managing principal of the Duane Morris Institute and a popular speaker at Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conferences.

While some have called for abolishing annual performance reviews altogether, Segal is not among them. "We should fix it [the process] rather than nix it," he said. "There is a lot of checking off boxes and writing comments, but no conversation." If employers focus more on performance development and have a dialogue where a manager tells employees where they can grow, the process is far more likely to increase engagement.

Voter turnout for the 2018 midterm election hit a 50-year high, as the fate of both the House of Representatives and the Senate hung in the balance. But with attention focused on several hotly contested races, there were some notable state ballot initiatives that employers should not overlook.

On this podcast, XpertHR Legal Editors David Weisenfeld and Beth Zoller discuss several key measures that passed in the election's aftermath, including:

• Expanded transgender rights in Massachusets;
• Minimum wage increases in Arkansas and Missouri;
• Recreational marijuana legalization in Michigan; and
• Medical marijuana legalization in Missouri and Utah.

This podcast examines the dizzying array of new employment laws that have been signed recently affecting California employers with Bruce Sarchet, a shareholder with Littler Mendelson's Sacramento office.

The highlights discussed included a:

• First-of-its-kind law requiring Golden State-based corporations to have at least one woman on their board of directors;
• Significant expansion of California's sexual harassment prevention law;
• Ban on most confidentiality clauses in sexual harassment settlement agreements;
• New law limiting an employer's ability to use non-disparagement clauses; and
• Breastfeeding breaks expansion of employee rights.

New York has passed new sexual harassment policy and training requirements affecting all employers, from Mom-and-Pop stores to Wal-Mart. With other states beginning to follow suit, this podcast examines the new laws with New York City employment attorney Michael Schmidt, vice chair of the Labor and Employment Department at Cozen O'Connor.

"Even if you've got just one employee in New York, you've got to comply with the training requirement," said Schmidt. Another notable requirement is that an employer must comply with these requirements as each new hire is brought into the company. Companies have until October 9, 2019, to comply with the mandatory training but should have a sexual harassment prevention program in writing immediately.

This podcast features outside-the-box insights about the HR role and how to improve it from Steve Browne, the author of "HR on Purpose" and acclaimed speaker. Browne, vice president of HR for the LaRosa's Pizzeria chain, often shows up incognito at his employer's various restaurants so employees are not on edge and do not change their approach.

Browne shares many useful tips that may change the way you think about HR. Chief among them, Browne stresses that HR must be "a regular part of the mechanism" and not just a place people go to when there is a problem. That means, above all, being accessible to employees, being a good listener and showing that you care about them.

Many companies trumpet their zero-tolerance discipline policies as evidence of their strong stance against bad workplace behavior. But this podcast examines how these policies might actually do more harm than good with Robin Shea, a partner with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, and the author of the firm's Employment and Labor Insider blog.

"They're way too strict," said Shea. "Most employees view these policies as meaning that if you commit an offense, you will be fired with no consideration of mitigating circumstances." According to Shea, the result is that some employees will not report certain misconduct because they do not want to see a coworker fired for something that likely falls short of a terminable offense.

With #MeToo now a household name, sexual harassment is undoubtedly one of the most significant issues affecting employers today. That's why it was front and center at the annual conference of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in Chicago, which featured a presentation by Philadelphia employment attorney Jonathan Segal, partner and managing principal of the Duane Morris Institute.

This podcast features a wide-ranging conversation with Segal at the conference about sexual harassment and workplace relationships, including:

• The role HR can play in investigations;
• Why love contracts are not a good idea;
• Gray areas involving what's socially acceptable; and
• Unintended consequences.

The gig economy has been described as a "game changer" for the relationship between companies and their workers. But a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report actually shows a slight decline in the number of US workers employed in alternative work arrangements between 2005 and 2017. So is all of the gig economy talk more hype than reality?

This podcast takes an in-depth look with Fisher Phillips employment attorney Rich Meneghello, who co-chairs his firm's Gig Economy Practice Group. "If you're an HR professional, this report is not good news," says Meneghello. However, he notes that the report failed to include certain categories of workers, including online workers and those with full-time jobs who perform gig work on the side to supplement their income.

SHRM's President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. has made several changes since taking the helm at the beginning of 2018. This podcast features a wide-ranging conversation with Taylor at the SHRM 2018 Conference and Exposition in Chicago on key challenges affecting HR professionals today.

Chief among them is the oft-voiced complaint that, too often when people go to HR, nothing happens. "A lot happens, but people just don't know it's happening," said Taylor. "And that's the part that we've got to do a better job as a profession of reacting to." Taylor explains that much of what HR does must be kept confidential, and people don't always realize that.

The Supreme Court has ruled that companies may force their employees to arbitrate their workplace disputes individually, rather than as part of a class action. It's a ruling that could affect an estimated 25 million employment contracts and has a host of other implications.

This podcast examines the closely watched case of Epic Systems vs. Lewis and what it means for employers with Seyfarth Shaw employment attorney Gerald Maatman, who chairs the firm's class action defense group.