State of the Workplace in 2022: Employee Mobility in the Great Resignation Era

May 11, 2022 | Webinar | Duane Morris LLP

Duane Morris presented its annual Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration webinar, State of the Workplace in 2022: Employee Mobility in the Great Resignation Era, on Wednesday, May 11, 2022.

The webinar covered how the pandemic’s end and the Great Resignation are changing recruiting, hiring, retention, remote work, separation, labor laws, benefits and immigration.

Webinar Replay

About the Program

One of the many unforeseen side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Great Resignation continues to redefine and challenge the relationship between employers and employees. As increasing numbers of employees resign, relocate and embrace remote working, employers face new challenges in hiring and retaining workers in an already difficult environment.

Join Duane Morris Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group attorneys for insights and analysis of the new labor landscape and how the employment lifecycle, NLRB decisions, benefits and immigration are shifting in response to the Great Resignation.

Recruiting and Hiring

Caroline Austin, Michael Futterman, Delia Isvoranu and Marc Scheiner will explore developments and best practices in recruiting and hiring new employees. Topics include:

• Legal considerations for finding and hiring new employees, including equal pay laws, job descriptions, social media recruiting, interviewing, avoiding biases, background checks, drug testing, onboarding and training, and hiring documentation.
• COVID-19 vaccine policy issues.
• Remote work: jurisdiction, taxation, wage-and-hour issues.
• EEO-1 issues.

Retention

Natalie Bare and Kathleen O'Malley will offer strategies for retaining employees and cultivating an engaged and loyal workforce through thoughtful onboarding, mentoring, rewarding compensation, caring benefits, flexibility and work-life balance, meaningful performance reviews and feedback, recognition programs, training and growth opportunities, teamwork and culture, effective communication and trust and retention incentives and agreements.

Separation

Maria Cáceres-Boneau, Meredith Gregston and Aaron Winn will discuss issues related to separation and termination of employment, including:

• Payout of accrued or unused PTO/vacation.
• Whether to implement a severance plan/ERISA plan or not.

NLRA Developments and Issues

Adam Keating, Eve Klein and Jim Redeker will discuss NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s expansion of the NLRA beyond the union context by broadening the definition and application of concerted activity. Many workers who may be looking for jobs are also activists and may wish to participate in demonstrations or become internal advocates for various subjects. This kind of activism is likely protected by the NLRA, and employers taking disciplinary action against employees engaged in such concerted activity may be in violation of the NLRA. We will also discuss recent trends in union activism at Amazon and Starbucks and what that could mean for all employers.

Benefits

Timothy Collins, Michael Gradisek, John Nixon and John Reade will share strategies for developing benefits offerings that attract new talent and retain employees. Additionally, we will outline benefits considerations at the end of employment, including health insurance, COBRA and pensions.

Immigration

Maxine D. Bayley, Pierre Georges Bonnefil, Ted J. Chiappari and Lisa Spiegel will discuss the latest immigration policy developments and best practices for employers, with an emphasis on:

• Immigration issues and limitations when hiring.
• What employers must do when employees with immigration visas leave.

About Duane Morris

Duane Morris LLP, a law firm with more than 800 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally, is asked by a broad array of clients to provide innovative solutions to today's legal and business challenges. Duane Morris has been recognized by BTI Consulting as both a client service leader and a highly recommended law firm.