TRAINING PROGRAMS

EP Specialists' training programs are customized to suit your industry's and your company's unique needs. From Executive Overviews, to Manager's Practicums, to Shop Floor scenarios, EP Specialists tailors the training, its content and its delivery, directly to the audience at hand.

Below is a sampling of the training programs offered by EP Specialists.

Other programs are currently under development, so if you are in need of training for a topic not listed below, please contact us.

Click on a topic to learn more:

Workplace Harassment

Workplace Discrimination

Conducting Internal Investigations

Interviewing and Hiring

Leave Laws

Performance Management

Proper Documentation

Discipline and Termination

Substance and Alcohol Abuse

Preventing Wrongful Discharge Claims

Anger, Violence and Conflict

Coaching

Mentoring

Diversity

Privacy

Team-Building

Preventing Workplace Harassment

This highly interactive program focuses on helping executives, managers and supervisors understand and prevent harassment and identify other types of inappropriate conduct that while not unlawful, are, nonetheless unacceptable in the workplace. Special emphasis is placed on liability issues, effectively handling harassment complaints, discipline, investigations and corrective action. Additional discussion will focus on confidentiality, non-retaliation and avoiding liability for other types of claims such as defamation and privacy issues. An employee version of the program is also available.

Workplace Discrimination

Managers and supervisors are provided a thorough education about illegal discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender (including sexual harassment), sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, age, religion, physical and mental disability. This program also highlights practices that are not illegal, yet inadvisable in the workplace. The issues of liability, defenses, prevention and appropriate handling of complaints and investigations will also be discussed.

Conducting Internal Investigations

Under state and federal laws, employers are required to promptly investigate complaints concerning harassment, discrimination, retaliation and whistleblower claims and take appropriate corrective action. Investigations may also need to be conducted regarding theft, substance abuse, safety and other areas of potential misconduct. However, simply conducting an investigation may not be enough to avoid liability. This program focuses on the importance of recognizing and understanding why and when investigations need to be conducted, who should conduct the investigation, creating an investigation strategy, how to effectively interview witnesses, handling evidence and creating proper documentation, reaching a conclusion, creating a final report, and discipline and termination. Participants will gain hands-on experience conducting an actual investigation. This program can be customized into a one or two day program.

Performance Management

Performance management is a critical issue for employers. Educating managers and supervisors on how to effectively give feedback and conduct appraisals ensures that each employee will be judged fairly and objectively and rewarded on the basis of job performance. The evaluation process assists managers/supervisors in identifying individual performance problems and developing plans to address those problems. This training module will provide guidance on properly assessing employee performance, providing constructive feedback and coaching. Attendees will also learn how to avoid innocent, but potentially costly, mistakes that can arise during the evaluation process.

Proper Documentation

This program teaches managers and supervisors the importance of handling workplace-related documentation as if it may someday appear before a jury as “Exhibit A.” The session focuses on the importance of proper documentation and provides an overview of documentation “best practices” with regard to performance deficiencies and workplace investigations. Topics include the seven steps to creating “bulletproof” documentation in addition to creating contemporaneous documents, the proper use of “shadow files,” hazards of electronic documentation and protecting documents with the attorney-client privilege. This program includes practical exercises for attendees to gain hands-on experience.

Preventing Wrongful Discharge Claims

No area of the employment relationship holds more legal implications than termination. In this program, managers and supervisors will learn about the principle of “at will” employment and the important exceptions to the rule. Various employment practices will be identified including hiring, discipline and documentation that could potentially create liability. Participants will also learn about the legal foundations of discharge lawsuits. Emphasis is placed on effectively handling discipline and discharge situations in an effort to minimize the risk of litigation.

Leave Laws

Managing leave requests can be one of the more difficult and confusing aspects of running a business. In order to successfully handle requests for leave, employers must have an understanding of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and state workers’ compensation laws in addition to the myriad of other state leave laws. An injured or ill employee may have rights under each of these statutes that must be respected. While each statute provides different protections for employees, frequently, some of the benefits and protections overlap. This program will focus on basic statutory obligations, limitations on pre-employment inquiries and medical examinations, employer liability, disciplinary and termination issues along with recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Anger, Violence and Conflict

This program focuses on the impact of conflict and threats of violence in the workplace. Using an interactive format and group exercises, participants will learn to recognize violence-prone personalities and gain skills and insights into handling chronically angry individuals and diffusing potentially dangerous situations. Emphasis is placed on prevention techniques including how to discipline employees with behavioral problems, conflict resolution, improving communication and listening skills, identifying practices that could create liability and identifying steps to prevent violence and reduce its risks.

Substance and Alcohol Abuse

Substance abuse in the workplace is an ever-increasing problem. The signs that an employee is using drugs or alcohol can be both overt, such as glassy eyes and the smell of alcohol, to less recognizable features such as poor performance and attendance issues. Participants review the Company’s drug and alcohol policies and learn to recognize substance and alcohol abuse warning signs, testing in the workplace, EAP, interaction with the ADA and FMLA, and disciplinary and termination issues.

Discipline and Termination

In this program, managers and supervisors learn to handle discipline in such a way as to minimize conflict and maximize employee performance. Participants learn best practices in handling discipline focusing on fair processes, proper documentation, how to terminate with dignity and without breaking the law. Alternatives to termination such as leaves of absence, reassignment, demotion are also explored along with other issues to consider before making a termination decision.

Interviewing and Hiring

This program focuses on one of the most common and most challenging responsibilities of managers and HR professionals: hiring the best people. Participants will learn the basics of effective interviewing including preparation, necessity of job descriptions, focusing on behavioral questioning, methods of recruiting, handling applications, note taking, and general interviewing tips and techniques. Special emphasis is placed on how to avoid illegal questions and what questions should be asked, how to avoid discrimination claims in selecting employees and the consequences of negligent hiring.

Coaching

This interactive program focuses on helping manager’s unlock their employee’s potential and improve performance. Managers will learn how to develop a coaching mentality, provide clear and concise feedback, effectively adapt a coaching style for different types of employees, properly document coaching sessions, minimize legal risk and help employees take ownership of their performance.

Mentoring

This program focuses on ensuring mentors and mentees understand the fundamentals of mentoring and their respective roles in creating a relationship focused on increasing knowledge, skills, performance and confidence.







California Harassment Training