Coordinating ADA, FMLA, Workers' Comp and Other Paid Leave

As the cost of benefits continues to rise and laws such as the ADA and FMLA are expanded, employers must find ways of coordinating their benefits programs. One way to achieve substantial savings is to integrate leave policies and programs. The place to start is by understanding the different purposes and requirements of the various leave laws—including the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), state and federal Family and Medical Leave laws (FMLA), workers’ compensation statutes, and short and long-term disability insurance. Then you can begin to reduce costly overlapping and duplication. This task is both taxing and complicated.

Learn the strategies you need to identify and avoid potential problems in designing leave programs and in handling employee leave requests in an exclusive interactive audio conference featuring Burt Fishman, recognized as one the nation’s leading authorities on the FMLA and the ADA. Called on by the nation’s business and human resource communities to comment on the new FMLA and ADA, Mr. Fishman hastaken a leading role nationally in advising the business community on the impact of the ADA and FMLA. He is the author of The ADA: Ten Years After, HR Guide to Employee Management; The HR Question and Answer Book; Workplace Privacy; and Workplace Accommodations for Disability and Religion. Joining Mr. Fishman is Jill Smith, the Executive Director of Workplace HR. Ms. Smith has over twenty-five years of experience in Human Resources with specific emphasis in the strategic development and effective implementation of compensation and benefits programs. Prior to joining Workplace HR, Ms. Smith held various positions for major defense contractors that ranged from HR practitioner to the director of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action.

Program Highlights:

• Overview of the laws affecting employee leave
• How the requirements of the leave laws – ADA, FMLA, and workers’ comp – interact, including how to manage paid leave vs. unpaid leave
• Issues that should be addressed in leave policies
• Scenarios that will include common problems faced by employers, mistakes they sometimes make in implementing new programs, and corrections to those mistakes
• Plus, you’ll get a chance to ask our experts your own questions!

Attendees Who Will Benefit From This Audio Conference Include:

• Human Resources Professionals
• In-House Labor and Employment Counsel
• Business Managers and Supervisors

Burt Fishman

Burton J. Fishman has devoted his practice to developing the “law of the workplace,” an interdisciplinary approach that offers employers counsel and representation on a broad range of matters growing out of government regulation of business. He was recognized in 2007 as a Washington SuperLawyer in the labor and employment field by Washington Law & Politics magazine. His experience extends to the full spectrum of employment and labor matters, ranging from employment discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), affirmative action, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to wrongful termination. In recent years, Mr. Fishman has taken a leading role nationally in advising the business community on the impact of the ADA, sexual harassment, and the evolving law of genetic discrimination, on the last of which he has frequently testified before Congress on behalf of the employer community. He has represented clients throughout the nation in proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and in arbitrations and courts at all levels.

A widely-recognized author of over 100 books and articles on workplace issues, Mr. Fishman also writes a featured column on the ADA for Thompson Publishing Group and is the author or The ADA: Ten Years After, HR Guide to Employee Management; The HR Question and Answer Book; Workplace Privacy; and Workplace Accommodations for Disability and Religion. Mr. Fishman is an experienced speaker on employment issues, including several presentations at SHRM national meetings, at the American Bar Association Annual Convention, and at similar gatherings throughout the country.

Jill Smith
Jill Smith is the Executive Director for Workplace HR. Ms. Smith has over twenty-five years of experience in Human Resources with specific emphasis in the strategic development and effective deployment of compensation programs that result in improved compliance with the non-discrimination and affirmative action obligations of federal contractors that are enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Ms. Smith’s experience spans the fields of compensation management, benefits, staffing, diversity, employee relations and equal employment opportunity and affirmative action programs. She has directed employers’ compliance programs in workforce diversity, harassment prevention, discrimination charge investigation and response, properly classifying employees under the wage and hour laws and related policies and practices, as well as the development of internal policies, practices and processes, including record keeping, applicant and hiring, promotions, compensation, and termination matters. Ms. Smith has been a frequent speaker and trainer at management and professional associations including the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and the National Industry Liaison Group (NILG).