Staying up to date on legal issues critical for trainers

Outdated training could cost your company more than most trainers realize. A word of caution about getting too far ahead or reusing old training materials


Jackson (not his real name, but hey, we have to keep the attorneys happy!) is the training director for a large corporation. Let's call it XYZ, Inc. (Again, not the real name, but those attorneys are still watching, so....)

A bit a perfectionist, he prides himself on having all corporate training planned a year in advance. There are sessions on time management, on job skills, and even on touchy subjects like sexual harassment.

As of January 1st, the materials are ready and the entire year's training for all divisions is planned completely. He's even managed to reuse some old materials left over from a few years ago.

Pretty good, right? Not really.

Odds are Jackson's well-in-advance and recycled training will miss the mark on critical labor law issues. Employees at XYZ may not get the right information on some important legal issues. And that could cost XYZ money. Maybe even big money.

The thing that Jackson, and so many other trainers miss, is the fact that employment law is a moving target. And as a trainer, it's your job to stay on top of new developments and shifting regulations.

A few examples might help illustrate just how critical this is....

- Jackson's training plan included directing employees in the XYZ-owned medical labs in proper recordkeeping. But the class content was written before the new HIPAA Breach Notification rules went into effect in September of 2009. So the information Jackson gathered back in December of 2008, and the old materials he is recycling, are not only incomplete, they may be wrong.

The probable result? Records improperly maintained, with breaches unreported -- and that could lead to fines or lawsuits against XYZ.

- Jackson was very happy with his training plan for interviewing and hiring. He included age, disability and ethnic discrimination. Religious discrimination. Even pay discrimination between male and female applicants. He was certain all the bases were covered.

But during the year, the definition of an ADA disability changed. And legal decisions in a number of courts expanded protection to cover sexual identity, sexual reassignment and gender-based lifestyle issues. But Jackson's training doesn't cover any of that. And that omission could be costly for XYZ.

There are other issues Jackson may have missed during the year -- Changes in the FMLA regarding military families. Shifts in EEOC rules to cover genetic information. State-level changes in employment law. Court decisions that refine or even completely altered existing labor law practices.

If you, like Jackson, like to map out your training year, make sure you stay up to date on changes in labor law, both from legislative and judicial sources. Leave room in your curriculum for "as needed" special training sessions to bring managers and others "into the loop" on new rules and regulations.

And before you re-use older training materials, have your staff attorney or an outside employment law attorney look over the content. That little step could go along way towards keeping your company and all employees in step with today's employment law issues.

A “super-sized” lesson in diversity training

McDonald’s settled a gay discrimination case yesterday and agreed to require diversity training for managers at 30 Louisville restaurants. McDonald’s must also pay $2,000 each to two men who said a restaurant employee directed anti-gay slurs at them.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed a complaint with the Louisville Human Relations Commission on behalf of the two men last year. According to the Courrier-Journal, the two men alleged that after ordering food, a female employee directed several anti-gay slurs toward them and used other derogatory language. They complained to a manager, who said she didn’t see the matter as a “big deal.”

McDonald’s said in a company statement that the matter has been resolved and that the company has strict policies against any discrimination in its restaurants.

"We work with our restaurant managers and crew to ensure our policies are followed and that we provide a respectful environment for all our employees and customers," the statement said.

The case serves as a “super-sized” lesson that when you have your attorney draft an anti-discrimination policy ensure it states that your company is committed to creating equal opportunity for all employees and customers. State that your company will not tolerate any form of discrimination including age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and sexual orientation.

Your anti-discrimination policy should also include an outlined procedure for making, investigating and resolving complaints. Train managers to follow the policy, know how to identify discrimination and how to respond to a compliant against one of their employees.

Ongoing training on diversity in the workplace and setting clear anti-discrimination policies can be your best way to avoid problems.

What else can employers do to avoid discrimination? What has worked or hasn’t worked in your company?

Leave a comment and share your advice.

Training Trends - Are you speaking your employees’ language?

April showers bring May flowers ... along with a garden of fresh, new training advice sprouting up at TrainingTime.com.

In the latest issue of our Training Trends newsletter you’ll learn the must-ask questions for finding the right person for every job, how to provide safety and other essential training in a language your employees understand, and how to reduce stress with a plan to balance personal and work responsibilities.

Here’s a quick look at the May issue of Training Trends:

The 5 questions they absolutely must answer!

We all know about questions an interviewer should never ask. Falling afoul of EEOC guidelines about religion, ethnic origin, family plans or genetic issues can result in lawsuits and fines, and the numbers can be staggering. Late last month, B & H Photo was fined an astronomical $4.3 million dollars for pervasive discrimination based on national origin.

But did you also know that hiring the wrong person – or letting the best choice go because of illegal criteria -- could end up costing your company real dollars because of poor performance and higher turnover. Add in the possibility of tarnishing your company’s reputation or alienating customers, and you could be looking at thousands or even millions in lost revenue. Consider this interview: (more)


Danger! I mean peligro! No, gefahr!

Why louder and slower won’t help if you’re using the wrong language for safety training

You’ve seen it on countless sitcoms. The main character meets someone who doesn’t speak English, and resorts to talking louder, speaking slowly and acting things out with elaborate gestures. On a TV show, it’s funny…but when you’re delivering employee training, the results can be tragic.

Injuries and fatalities among non-U.S.-born workers and non-English-speaking employees have been sharply increasing. Here’s what you can do to boost training effectiveness: (more)


Who comes first? When work and family needs clash

You have a big presentation due at work tomorrow. It’s almost midnight and you’re still finishing up your PowerPoint presentation in between doing loads of laundry, while mentally planning tomorrow’s lunches. And just when you think you might grab a few hours’ sleep before the alarm goes off, your four-year old wakes up with an earache and a fever. Now what?

No matter what your life includes, the challenges of blending work and family demands seem to be growing each day. Longer work hours and busy family schedules keep everyone trying to juggle three, four or more tasks at any one time.

We know we have to do it. The question is, how can we do it better? You need a Plan B. (more)

Each month, the experts at TrainingTime.com share all of the latest and greatest tips, trends and buzz from across the training industry in our Training Trends newsletter. If you’re not on our mailing list, please take a few seconds and sign up.

If you’re a training expert or HR professional and are interested in writing content for Training Trends or TrainingTime.com’s learning library, visit our “Write for Us” page for instructions on how to contribute.

Race discrimination: Time to update your training?

When is the right time to retrain employees or update policies regarding discrimination in the workplace?

Well, hopefully before something like this happens ...

NIAGARA FALLS — It didn’t take long for the city worker accused of putting a “whites only” sign on a public works drinking fountain to realize it was a really bad idea.

“There’s going to be trouble,” a co-worker predicted shortly after James Curtis put up the sign Aug. 13 in the public works yard, according to court papers filed in the case.

Curtis, 52, of 80th Street, a 26- year employee in the Public Works Department, told police before his arrest last Friday that he took down the sign after he realized he might get in trouble.

By that time, an African-American co-worker had photographed it with his cell phone.

Curtis said he confessed last week to posting the sign because his conscience got the better of him, although not before he lied about his involvement when first confronted by Detective Frank Coney.

Curtis is now facing a “Class E felony” after the charge of second-degree aggravated harassment was bumped up to a racially-motivated hate crime. Read more from The Buffalo News.

Of course Curtis intended the sign to be a joke and not offensive. Joke or not, how could a 26- year employee think that a stunt like this could be laughed off as a silly joke? How does this kind of discrimination still exist in workplace settings across the country?

In response to a pending 2003 discrimination suit, the city said it has “stepped up” diversity training, but several city officials want the administration to do more.

Niagara Falls mayor (aka. Curtis’ boss) said his administration has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination in the workplace and has started disciplinary proceedings against Curtis.

Other than making diversity training mandatory for all employees and having a zero-tolerance policy, what more can city officials do to wipe out this kind of inappropriate behavior in workplace areas? Is this just one example of one bad employee making a huge mistake or a bigger, more widespread problem?

For one reason or another, many employees hold some kind of resentment for diversity training, so what have we been doing wrong? Is it even possible to solve the issue of workplace discrimination with training and policies?