Tallahassee attorneys Linda Bond Edwards, Nicole Smith and Kayla Platt Rady provided an overview of current issues in employment law during HR Tallahassee Conference: The Great Recovery hosted by the Big Bend Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The annual conference provides Human Resource professionals, office managers, business owners, supervisors and managers, and students with information and education on topics important to businesses today and the future.

During the general session, Edwards, Smith and Platt Rady covered:

• Remote working and COVID policies that meet ADA requirements
• Review of classifications and record keeping requirements to avoid FLSA liability
• Newly implemented laws that will affect HR policies
• Use of interactive tools to address pressing employment compliance concerns

Some key insights they shared:

• HR professionals should be diligent in auditing wage and hour practices even as the law continues to evolve. 
• Despite the ADA challenges that emerged with COVID , the sound and solid HR practices for engaging in the interactive process and making individualized assessments for employees with disabilities remain. 
• Employers should continue to promote training that encourages diverse employees to build stronger teams, Florida’s new “WOKE” law doesn’t discourage such training but as with every employment practice, employers must continue to comply with existing anti-discrimination laws. 
• As more and more states review medical marijuana laws, the federal laws affecting medical marijuana still require compliance.