Delaware Employment Law Blog

The Annual Employment Law Seminar held yesterday at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware, was a huge success. Thank you to all of the attendees for participating--your enthusiasm and engagement is the key to the program's success.

An extra dose of thanks is due to all of the brave souls who participated in Employment Law Jeopardy, hosted by Bill Bowser.

Next year's seminar will be held on May 9, so be sure to mark your calendars. In the meantime, we always welcome your comments and thoughts about ways we can improve the seminar.

Do you suspect an employee is spending more time Facebooking than working? How far can you go to monitor blogs, e-mails, and texts without invading an employees privacy? Even the best-intended employers are struggling to keep up with the legal developments in this area.

I will be presenting an audio-conference discussing how a recent Supreme Court decision should impact your electronic monitoring policies:

• Best practices to avoid invasion of privacy claims: Is it really effective, or necessary, to ban personal use of employer-provided phones, computers, etc.?
• Pros and cons of monitoring your employees' online activities during off-duty time
• Best practices for monitoring your organization's phone logs, computers, e-mails, texts, blogs and other social media
• How to implement and communicate a policy to your workforce regarding electronic monitoring in the workplace
• How to adjust your HR policies to inform employees that your organization's e-mail, blogs, texts, and social networking sites may be monitored
• The federal rules that govern electronic monitoring in the workplace, including how the Electronic Communications Privacy Act comes into play
• How far can you go to monitor employee electronic communications? What types of surveillance should you avoid?
• Your legal options if you suspect an employee is stealing confidential data using an electronic device

This 90-minute audio conference will be held on October 18, 2010, beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Registration and additional information is available on the HR Hero website.

The 2010 Annual Delaware Valley Human Resources Partnership Summit is coming to the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia on October 15, 2010.  This one-day conference is a partnership between Greater Valley Forge HR Association and the Philadelphia SHRM Chapter, and features the following six learning tracks:

· 21st Century Tools and Technology

· Employee Relations and Legal

· Engagement, Retention and Recruiting

· HR Strategy

· Total Rewards

· Organizational Development

I am very excited to be participating as a speaker in this year's event. I'll be speaking on Hiring with Social Media as part of the first learning track.

The Summit has been approved for 5.25 HRCI strategic management credits. General credits will also be offered. The conference agenda and online registration are available on the DVHRP Summit website. 

This seminar presented by the EEOC looks like an outstanding learning opportunity for HR professionals.  There are great topics and great speakers, so I'm passing it along for readers in the Philadelphia area.

WHAT: EEOC Technical Assistance Program Seminar

WHERE:  Ace Conference Center, Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania

WHEN: August 9, 2010

Less than two weeks to register!! Come to the Ace Conference Center in Lafayette Hill for an EEO seminar hosted by the Philadelphia EEOC district office, your source for employment discrimination compliance training. The Ace Conference Center is about 12 miles from downtown Philadelphia and easily accessible from 1-76, I-476 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

This seminar has been approved for 5.75 (General ) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute.

For more agenda information, see the seminar brochure with registration form.

Discount Price of $319 is still available when you register and pay online with a credit card or electronic check. Click here to register online.  Regular rate is $349.

Registration Customer Service Contacts: 866.446.0940 (customer service rep), 800.828.1120 (TTY), 518.615.8422 (FAX) or eeoc.traininginstitute@eeoc.gov.

Join Molly DiBianca and Delaware SHRM at 7:30 am on June 8th for an interactive discussion of social media for hiring.  We'll discuss:

• the impact of social media sites on recruiters and hiring managers;
• how social media is changing the nature of recruiting; and
• legal liability and exposure of using social media.

The impact of social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is undeniable but, also, undefined. Hundreds of millions of Americans now use these sites and others like them for an expanding number of reasons. And it's not just the country's youth online, either. Twitter users are more likely to be Baby Boomers than they are to be youngsters in the 12-to-24 crowd.

So it's no surprise that social media is causing tremendous changes in the way employers recruit and hire new employees. Employers have to look beyond standard recruiting tactics if they hope to secure the most sought-after candidates. But the adventure into the social-media sphere is not without risks. Before you send a friend request to that job applicant, be sure you know how it could expose your organization to legal liability.

Whether you're a master of your Facebook page, or you're still wondering what a "tweet" really is, Molly DiBianca will guide you in the right direction when it comes to social media.

The session will be held at the Christiana Hilton in Newark, Delaware.  Registration is $40 for members and $45 for non-members.

The Employment Law Alliance is holding a webinar that will address the use of noncompete agreements in various jurisdictions, including Delaware. The panel of speakers includes attorneys from the U.S. and Canada, including our own Barry M. Willoughby.  The webinar will be held on June 9, 2010, 3-4:30 p.m. EDT.

In addition addressing the treatment of noncompete agreements, panelists will offer practical and concrete strategies on:

• Drafting and enforcing restrictions on employee competition when doing business in multiple jurisdictions at one time
• How the "duty of loyalty" can be used to stop employees from setting up competing businesses while still employed by you.
• What employers can do to minimize the risk that your employees will walk out the door with your trade secrets
• How to stop competitors from engaging in unfair competition.

Registration is free:  Your Top Talent Walks Out the Door: Now What? How to Stop Your Competitors from Raiding Your Workforce and Engaging in Unfair Competition in the U.S. and Canada

Same-sex harassment is on the rise. Labor and Employment law attorney Teresa A. Cheek will be speaking about same-sex harassment, and about discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity on May 21, 2010, on  The Proactive Employer Podcast.

Listeners can hear the show live via internet streaming on Blog Talk Radio on Friday, May 21, 2010, beginning at 8:30 a.m., or listen to a recorded copy of the podcast later, either at The Proactive Employer website or podcast site, or via iTunes.

Well, it's almost time for our annual employment-law seminar! We had a fantastic turnout last year with great speakers and topics and this year's schedule is certain to be just as exciting.  The registration brochure is posted below with all of the details--just be sure to sign up soon, as seats are limited.

We hope to see you then!

Registration is also available at the (new!) Young Conway website.

Who:  Adria B. Martinelli

What:  Employee Genetic Discrimination: New Legal Pitfalls from GINA

Where:  Your office via audio conference

When:  Tuesday, May 4, 2010  11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern

Cost: $247

Registration:  HR Hero website

Learning Objectives:

• What constitutes "genetic information" and the specific rules regarding confidentiality
• How GINA impacts hiring, promotion, and termination practices
• The types of claims employers can expect from this new legislation
• How GINA comes into play with the ADA, HIPAA, and COBRA
• How you should handle information self-disclosed by employees, and how to prevent obtaining too much information
• When GINA and social media collide: How information posted on an employee’s or applicant’s Facebook page could put your organization at risk
• How the legislation's broad language extends to an employee’s "family members" and could add teeth to a caregiver responsibility claim
• How to avoid GINA-based caregiver claims and how to accommodate the needs of the caregiver workforce while minimizing legal risks

Who:  Molly DiBianca

What:   Speaking on social media at Ragan Communication, Inc.'s Corporate Communications Conference

Where:  Hosted by General Motors at Marriott Detroit Renaissance Center

When:  May 5-7, 2010.  Molly will be presenting on May 6

Cost:  Members $945  Non-members $1195

Registration:  Ragan.com

Overview:  The Legal Limits of Monitoring Employees' Tweets, Posts, and Other Social Media Activities

As social media become the communication tools of choice, employees' online activities become an increasing source of potential liability for employers. The need to minimize legal risk has led many employers to monitor the Internet for dangerous, defamatory or downright rude postings by their employees. The law recognizes that the Internet is a public forum, but this freedom to browse is not without limits.

• Use the best monitoring techniques from the successes (and blunders) of employers who have required employees to disclose social media habits
• Avoid monitoring techniques that will most likely land you in court
• Watch for red flags when monitoring employee Twitter, blogging and Facebook activities
• Communicate your monitoring policy to employees to generate the least amount of backlash

Who:  Molly DiBianca as a panelist.

What:  CLE session presented by the E-Discovery & Technology Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association on the ethical issues that arise in the context of social media.  Approved for 3.0 hours CLE credit in Enhanced Ethics.

Where:

Live in New Castle County at Delaware State Bar Association
301 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE

Live in Kent County via Simultaneous Broadcast at 
Community Legal Aid Society, Inc., 840 Walker Road, Dover, DE

Live in Sussex County via streaming video at Tunnell & Raysor
30 E. Pine St., Georgetown, DE (Parking lot in back, use back entrance)

Program Description:

This workshop will focus on new technology issues affecting the Courts and the Bar: social media and email. From Chambers to law offices to deliberation rooms, we are all affected. The Rules of Engagement are changing daily. What do the Judges need to know to instruct jurors regarding use of social media during deliberations? Are model jury instructions needed? What are the ethical lines for judges and lawyers regarding their own use of social media? What are the ethical and liability issues regarding the use of email. Is there a need for guidelines?

Registration:  (PDF)

Who:  Adria B. Martinelli and other members of the Labor and Employment Section of the Delaware State Bar Association

What:  Labor and Employment Update 2010 Seminar

When:  May 11  9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Social Media Plus will be the Mid-Atlantic's largest business summit for professionals interested in learning about the latest in Social Media and web 2.0 technology, and I'm excited to be taking part in it. It's going to be a huge event--they're anticipating 1000 attendees, 50 exhibitors and 28 sessions led by local and national professionals in the fields of technology, marketing, sales and, of course, Social Media

This one-day business summit is aimed at helping businesses learn how to start incorporating Social Media into their overall business strategy.

Attendees can participate in one of four distinct tracks to ensure they get topics most relevant to their organization.  The tracks include: Executives: HR; IT; and Sales and Marketing.

Registration is open with early-registration savings available until March 31.

This year, Adria B. Martinelli and I will be speaking at the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 11-12.  If you can't join us in Vegas in November, maybe you can swing a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, where the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium will be presented on September 30-October 1. 

The Advanced Employment Issues Symposium is in it's 15th year and is recognized as one of the leading employment-law conferences for forward-thinking human resource professionals, executives, and in-house counsel. This year, there are three featured tracks: Employment Law Enforcement; FMLA & ADA; and Talent Management. 

Registration for the Employment Issues Symposium is open now, with early-registration discounts until March 31.  If you aren't able to attend either of this year's programs, you can order the materials from the registration website, as well.

Hope to see you then!

CUPA-HR Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Spring Chapter Meeting

March 2, 2010 | 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Registration Opens at 8 a.m.
Wilmington University
Doberstein Academic Center
320 N. DuPont Highway, New Castle, Delaware 19720

The Eastern Pennsylvania CUPA-HR chapter invites you to join us for our annual Spring Meeting on March 2, 2010. For the first time, the Eastern Pennsylvania CUPA-HR chapter is partnering with the Delaware Chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management(SHRM).

Our topics will be related to Employment Law updates as well as other legal issues. Topics will include: Social Networking and the Workplace, Retaliation & Whistleblower Claims, FMLA/ADA Update, Avoiding Wage and Hour Claims, Getting to Know GINA. The discussions will be led by employment-law attorneys from Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor.

Cost:
CUPA-HR Eastern Pennsylvania Members: Free
CUPA-HR National Members: $15. Non-CUPA-HR Members: $30.
Cost includes continental breakfast, lunch and handouts.

Please RSVP to Vicki Stewart at vstewart [at] ycp.edu by February 20, 2010.