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Our Interactive Training Programs are the Gift that Keeps on Giving

At Sherman Law Corporation, we offer on-site interactive employment-related training courses, best described by one of our clients as the “gift that keeps on giving back” to California employers.
Click here or call 323-488-2087 for a free initial consultationClick here or call 323-488-2087 for a free initial consultation

While the state of California mandates certain training on various laws, most affected employers elect inexpensive generic on-line training courses that employees treat like on-line traffic school — doing whatever it takes to game the computer to print out a certificate of completion. You can only imagine how this plays out for the employer at trial, when the plaintiff’s attorney introduces to the jury the cost and content of the generic on-line course.

The most under-utilized, cost-effective method to improve compliance, increase pre-litigation resolution of employment-related disputes, and enhance an employer’s defenses, is to retain Sherman Law Corporation to customize training programs for your workplace.

"It was great working with Lisa Sherman. You always feel that she "has your back." She is very prompt at responding to all concerns and interprets legal matters in a comprehensible way. And she got us very positive results. Highly recommended."

~ William

The Unspoken Cost of Online Training Programs

While studies have long shown that we all learn best by doing, the vast majority of training sessions resemble a Peanuts cartoon: Charlie Brown sitting at his desk staring into space while the teacher drones on and the students start to daydream. Online training programs often have the same effect because they are too generic and fail to connect with the participants.

Recognizing this flaw, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission passed several amendments to the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) in 2016, expanding training obligations for employers with 50 or more employees. However, they continue to fall short by still allowing webinars and on-line courses.

Checking all electronic devices at the door for a two hour in-person interactive session is the only effective way to ingrain real life examples of the personal and legal effect of each participant’s actions or inactions. These examples can include:

  • Legal Actions Naming Employees and Potential Personal Liability
    Only when employees can relate to a specific situation at their own workplace will they fully understand how their own actions or inactions can result in personal and or/corporate liability and that claims and legal actions can be filed against anyone. Supervisors and executives, in particular, should realize that the vast majority of the lawsuits (even ones that we at Sherman Law Firm have handled) merely involve the claim of an abusive work environment with no evidence based on protected characteristics.
  • Uncovering Unreported Claims or Issues Brewing
    One of the most significant costs to employers administering generic online training is that it will not uncover any unreported or unknown claims or significant issues brewing in your workplace that could have been resolved before they escalated further. The FEHA amendments now require that the viewer be able to submit questions and contact the trainer, but this is unlikely to have a true effect. Interacting with the trainer for two hours builds up a trust and rapport that encourages participants to raise any issues in the workplace, during and after training, and in our experience has been highly effective.
  • Higher Damages Awarded to Employee
    Juries place greater weight on evidence presented from live training conducted by experienced employment counsel, especially when the complainant was a participant, and all the other participants will testify that the complainant raised no issues at the interactive training or afterwards -even if other employees freely did. On-line programs send a strong message to the jury that the Company did not care about training its supervisors at all, especially if the materials and/or tutorial fail to address a similar factual scenario that may have prevented the alleged wrongful conduct at issue from occurring at all.

Our Interactive On-Site Training Programs are the Most Cost-Effective Weapons for Employers

California employment laws are complex; the vast majority of the time, even high-level executives simply do not understand the laws, their legal obligations or Company policies that were drafted by others. No one is better equipped to provide an eye-opening and occasionally frightening depiction of the dangers of non-compliance than our team at Sherman Law Corporation. Whether or not it is required or by law, there is no other more cost-effective weapon for employers than the clarity we can help provide.

Because we spend the majority of our time in contentious litigation, one of the most gratifying parts of our law practice is the on-site interactive training. First, we partner with employers to customize each training program to address the issues that have or are likely to occur in your workplace. Nothing is more effective than presenting real-life examples from litigated cases where the costs of non-compliance — the difference between 6-figure jury verdicts reported by local papers or 60 minutes of your time — are embedded in participants’ minds forever.

Secondly, mandatory in-person training with an employment attorney is the equivalent of getting the attention of a small child in a boring classroom. Research shows we only have 60 seconds to captivate and connect with our audience. Whether we are presenting in front of disinterested employees, a despondent judge in a crowded courtroom, or a reluctantly-selected jury in a high-stakes trial, we have less than one minute to win over the audience.

Opening (and closing) with a bang, we employ visual media and other proven teaching techniques intended to evoke emotional, physical and verbal responses from each participant. Once we establish a connection, we must create a safe place to freely exchange responses, concerns, and issues without judgment, so that everyone in the room is invested in learning best practices for the real-life scenarios which have or are likely to arise at their workplace.

No video training module will share with all of your employees the actual litigation process, but our team stands in the shoes of employees and employers alike from start to finish, sharing the ups and downs experienced by both sides, as well as the unspoken costs experienced by all parties.

By using Sherman Law Corporation's on-site interactive training, your Company will see the following results:

Participants Understanding and Retaining Critical Take-Away Lessons

By actively engaging participants in effective teaching techniques, we allow our participants to understand and retain what is expected of them, always erring on the side of reporting and seeking advice before taking actions.

Fewer Unreported Legal Claims

Internally reported legal claims are undoubtedly easier and less expensive to handle before the employee retains legal counsel. Internally, the Company has an opportunity to investigate allegations, make factual findings, and take appropriate corrective action for substantiated claims. Through our interactive training, employees learn that internal reporting can be a successful option, and Companies can expect fewer claims that go straight to legal action.

Uncovering Unreported, Unknown Issues Affecting Relationships, Productivity and/or Morale

Participants are encouraged to raise any employment-related issues in a variety of ways, often allowing the Company to uncover and resolve unknown or unreported issues affecting relationships, productivity and/or morale in the workplace. After learning of potential personal liability in a safe place, participants in our training sessions are more likely to raise these issues that otherwise may have festered until some sort of legal action ensued.

Increased Morale, Productivity and Loyalty to the Company

Employees are one of the most valuable assets to a Company, but they often feel excluded or under-appreciated. Bringing these employees together for the training delivers an unexpected gift to employers: increased morale, productivity and a renewed sense of loyalty to the Company. When your employees understand the value to them individually by our training, they are truly grateful to their employers for hiring us to not only protect them individually but to help them navigate the legal difficulties that many of them were unaware even existed before training.

Enhanced Employer Defenses

Our training provides substantive training materials and fully executed acknowledgements of Company policies, as well as reaffirmations of compliance. If a complainant participated in our training but then failed to complain internally, this is particularly compelling in a trial, especially for harassment claims, and may limit or preclude recovery of damages.

Sample Training Programs we offer

We regularly customize our training courses on a variety of employment-related issues, including:

Introduction of Newly Created/Updated Employee Handbooks, Policies, Procedures, Processes, Agreements, and/or Forms

Legally compliant Company policies are meaningless unless supervisors and personnel charged with implementation and enforcement of human resource issues fully understand and consistently enforce the Company’s policies. Otherwise, if legal action follows, opposing counsel will prominently display these policies, contending that they are not only worthless, but that the Company did not care enough to train management to understand and comply with them. Participants in this training include human resource personnel, managers and all persons charged with implementing compliance.

HR 101

A basic training course on employment obligations for California employers and best practices for handling common human resource issues. Participants include human resource personnel and/or personnel charged with implementing human resource compliance.

Supervisor 101

A broad-based training course on supervisors’ basic employment obligations, strict and personal liability, red flag triggers requiring reporting, and substantiating all adverse employment actions/issues with a strong emphasis on creating rock-solid documentation. Participants include executives, managers, supervisors, and human resource personnel.

Hiring 101

A hiring course that primarily educates participants on common legal issues associated with hiring, including but not limited to misclassification of independent contractors and salaried exempt employees; the importance of comprehensive, written job descriptions; the federal and California credit reporting acts; pre-employment social media searches, testing, and medical examinations; references; best practices for documentation of hiring decisions. Participants include human resource personnel, and all managers/ personnel involved in the hiring process.

Navigating California’s Myriad of Laws Governing Injuries, Illnesses, and Leaves of Absences

Prior to training, we review your Company policies, postings, forms and templates in place regarding the various leaves of absences that you provide and are required by law. We use the updated policies, forms and certifications to teach the key elements under each applicable federal, state, and local ordinances that apply to you as a covered employer; any requirements for employee eligibility; types of leave provided; certifications, notices, reporting return to work and interaction of the various laws. Participants include human resource personnel and all managers/supervisors.

AB 1825 Unlawful Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation and Bullying (For Supervisors OR Rank-and-File Employees)

In 2004, the California legislature passed AB 1825, requiring every employer with 50 or more employees to provide two hours of interactive training and education on harassment, discrimination, and retaliation for all supervisors once every two years. After Governor Brown signed AB 2053, as of 2015, employers are now required to add anti-bullying training into the curriculum, even though there is no new legal protection for bullying. We provide training for supervisors, as well as a one-hour training course for rank-and-file employees only focused on their own conduct and reporting obligations.

Navigating the Digital Workplace (For Supervisors OR Rank-and-File Employees)

A training course for employees on their obligations in connection with the use of Company devices and technology, as well as the creation, transmission, and storage of electronically-stored Company information; the Company’s legal obligations as to recordkeeping, protection of confidential information, and preservation of potentially relevant information; the limitations on rights to privacy; email etiquette and prohibited methods of communications; appropriate use of Company-issued and personally owned technology resources and accounts, at work and remotely. Separate courses offered for supervisors and rank-and-file employees.

Preservation, Collection and E-Discovery Obligations of Electronically Stored Information

This course is highly recommended for all employers because every employer has electronically-stored information. But if this information is not preserved, archived, reviewed, and collected in a defensible manner, any type of legal action or audit that follows and requires reliance on electronically stored information, the data can be lost or cannot be relied upon by the employer. Participants include human resource and IT personnel and all managers/supervisors.

Hot-Button Employment Topics and Minimizing Employment Liability

This training is focused on the hottest topics in employment law, especially in California. We review recent changes in federal, state and local laws, notable court decisions, jury verdicts, administrative agency statistics and announcements to address the hottest topics and recommend best practices. Participants include human resource personnel and all managers/supervisors.

Documentation, Documentation, Documentation

This course is highly recommended for all employers, no matter the size or sophistication of the Company, because documentation is the single most important duty that supervisors, human resource personnel and executives often take for granted. In reality, this duty should always yield the bulletproof documentation that is likely to withstand attack.

Are You Doing Everything You Can to Protect Your Company?

Are you doing everything you can to minimize employment liability and defend costly legal actions? There is no substitute for training by experienced employment litigators who have valuable lessons to share with your management.

Contact us today at (323) 488-2087 to discuss customizing training courses for your workforce.

Contact the Sherman Law Firm Today

Call the Sherman Law Firm at 323-488-2087 to schedule your free consultation today.

Call 323-488-2087 for a free initial consultationCall 323-488-2087 for a free initial consultation




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