A Guide to Employment Law Webinars
Employment law webinars are live, internet-based events where the speaker presents a specific topic with immediate audio and visual interaction with the audience.
Like many legal or human resources topics, it’s difficult to find the time and money to attend in-person seminars, especially out-of-state. Face-to-face sessions are more expensive for the employer, especially with out-of-state speakers, and more disruptive to the schedules of the managers and human resources professionals attending. In addition, it’s likely only one or two individuals from the organization are getting the benefit of the event. However, with the advent of webinars – which are often offered as on-demand programs for a lower cost – employers and employment law attorneys are increasingly able to tap into the wealth of presenters and topics available to get the up-to-date training and information they need .
For example, employer-side labor and employment law firms around the country now offer webinars (sometimes multiple times per month) to cover the most pressing topics facing employers today. Whether the topic is wage and hour, noncompete agreements, or terminations, these seminars provide immediate, current, and comprehensive information that can help avoid trouble later.
The current trend in employment law webinars illustrates the enormous amount of information available to employers who use webinars as a training and compliance tool in their organizations. Although the topics are various and broad, the goal is always the same – to allow employers to more effectively respond to employment law issues and hopefully avoid litigation. Employers who haven’t attended a webinar may want to try one by registering for an upcoming event or reviewing a recent recorded session.
Topics Found in Employment Law Webinars
The specific content of these webinars will vary by firm, but there are some key topics that are commonly addressed, such as:
Workplace Discrimination – Inevitably, discrimination and harassment are topics that come up in webinars, either focused on general issues that arise in the workplace or, more specifically, on recent developments in the law, such as the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision on LGBT workplace discrimination. These topics are perennially popular, as they continue to attract the most interest from employers and can lead to substantial liability if not properly addressed.
Wage and Hour Laws – Overtime and wage and hour laws often serve as a law firm’s top-visited resource page and are a common point of interest in webinars like those we outline here. There is a wide variety of wage and hour subjects addressed, ranging from how employee misclassification can arise to class action issues and exemptions.
Employee Rights – What rights do employees have? Employees may spend hours online looking for answers to this question, or a business they’re familiar with might be hurt as a result of their ignorance in this area. Therefore, it pays for employers to understand the rights their employees enjoy under the law, as well as when dealing with the laws that may be constraining what information they can ask of job candidates or employees. This subject also often references local and state-specific laws in addition to federal laws, making this a topic that can be helpful to both employees and employers.
Recent Legislative Changes – As noted above, many of the webinars and resources on employment law discuss recent changes and how the law responds to new issues that arise. For example, one of the most popular webinars from 2020 covered cannabis legalization and how it affected the workplace. Many states are passing laws dealing with issues like paid sick leave or protections for pregnant workers, so these fights are constantly being raised in new areas of the country.
Examples of webinars or webinar series that have had an impact on the employment law landscape include:
Of course, there are always updates coming for these and other topics, making it increasingly important to stay up to date on developments and continue seeking legal advice.
Benefits of Attending Webinars for Legal Practitioners
As most legal professionals have likely experienced, the necessity for continuing education presents both a challenge and an opportunity: the challenge to keep pace with relevant changes in the law, the opportunity to earn continuing legal education (CLE) credits while offering real-time value to your clients and other stakeholders. Whether you’re an employer-side or employee-side practitioner, the good news is that there are many options available to help you meet your professional requirements. Increasingly, sophisticated CLE accreditation boards are making educational opportunities more accessible and allowing greater flexibility in how and when credits are obtained. Here are examples of a few of the ways that employment law webinars can benefit legal professionals.
How Businesses Gain from Employment Law Webinars
Employers who participate in employment law webinars are in a much better position to manage their exposure to legal risks. These webinars provide employers with well-researched, up-to-date and relevant information about important developments in employment law that businesses need to know about. The ability to stay informed on recent court decisions , legislative amendments and administrative changes that affect the workplace allows employers to keep their HR practices compliant and up-to-date in a relatively short amount of time.
Employment law webinars also permit employers to train their management teams on important employment law issues. Often, hiring webinars puts employers in contact with experts in the relevant field, ensuring that the training is thorough and addresses the key points on the issue. When managers are aware of how recent changes to legislation or the interpretation of legislation affects their employees, it empowers them to make informed decisions.
How to Select the Most Effective Employment Law Webinars
Beyond noting that the content must be accurate to be useful, choosing the most useful employment law webinars takes a little bit of research, including: checking out the speaker’s credentials as a presenter of employment law topics and their familiarity with the subject they are presenting; reviewing the content agenda and how detailed it is; checking out reviews or evaluations of past events the same speaker conducted in the past; and considering if the timing or time frame of the webinar is practical (e.g., you may be interested in the topic but not on Fridays when your child has a soccer game or right after lunch when trying to eat at your desk)—or even whether the format is desirable.
Forthcoming Trends in Employment Law Webinars
The future of employment law webinars is poised to become even more interactive and engaging for the audience. The next big development in employment law webinars might be live Q&A, where the audience could interact with the speaker in real-time. While there are some technical hurdles that need to be addressed, if done right, this could have incredible results.
Similarly, as technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality continue to gain traction, we could see employment law webinars leverage these tools to create even more immersive experiences. Imagine an employment law webinar where your computer screen becomes a virtual courtroom , or an employee handbook review that gives you a 360-degree view of the office.
Another possible future development is an increased focus on global employment law issues. With the world becoming more interconnected than ever before, companies are operating in multiple countries and will need to be aware of a wide range of employment law issues. Employment law webinar providers could look at ways to create regional as well as national content, helping companies stay informed about local laws and regulations.
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