Attorneys with the Chicago office of the national labor and employment law firm Ford & Harrison, in partnership with M. Lee Smith Publishers, a national provider of information resources for Human Resources professionals, will conduct Employment Records Retention, Retrieval & Destruction, a one-day workshop on document management best practices. The event, designed for Illinois employers, HR executives, and corporate legal counsel, will be conducted Thursday, June 26 at the Fairmont Chicago.
When it comes to employee records and personnel files, most employers do not know exactly what to save and what to shred, says Steve Brenneman, a partner in Ford & Harrisonís Chicago office and leader of the workshop faculty. This interactive seminar is intended to walk attendees through the what, why and how of recordkeeping essentials. By the end of the seminar each participant will have a clear understanding of which documents to keep and which to discard.
The stakes for recordkeeping errors have never been higher. Increasingly, juries in employment litigation weigh an employerís paper trail, both hard-copy and electronic, when deciding on an employeeís claim of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or other workplace conflict. Because jurors are generally employees themselves, they look for any reason to side with the worker. Thatís why employers must be prepared to produce documents and records that defend their decisions and policies.
Those who choose to participate in this event will learn:
* Which documents should be kept and which are vital
* How to keep a record of a workplace investigation
* Who owns an employee's personnel records
* Special document challenges
* How to store electronic data
* Time requirements in recordkeeping
* Proper methods of disposal
Steven Brenneman brings over 20 years of experience representing clients in the full range of employment and labor law matters. He advises and provides preventive counseling to clients on a wide range of issues affecting the employment relationship, including EEO issues, wage and hour issues, FMLA matters, employee handbooks and personnel policies, reductions in force, covenants against competition, affirmative action obligations and strategies for employee discipline and termination. He regularly practices in the trial and appellate levels of federal and state courts, as well as administrative agencies.
Chicago Recordkeeping Helps Employers Succeed in the Courtroom
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