Tales from the Courtroom: Using Policies and Procedures To Prevent Future Lawsuits in the Restaurant Industry (Update)

Using real-life court cases, Lisa Koblin and Erik Pramschufer, attorneys at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr, LLP's Labor and Employment Practice Group, walk the audience through legal issues related to harassment and discrimination claims, wage and hour policies, customer security and privacy. The program will explain how legally compliant policies and practices can help prevent lawsuits and will be a restaurant's first line of defense in most employment litigation cases. The attorneys will share their own experiences defending restaurant clients, and explain how and why an employer's policies can mitigate risk and best practices for policy implementation and management. Additionally, the attorneys will address the importance of proper website accessibility, and how security policies can be used to combat data security issues. Viewers will walk away from this session with takeaways for managing a diverse workforce, spotting potential wage and hour issues (including tip credits, tip pooling, and overtime), key considerations for addressing customer security and confidentiality concerns, and complex disability accommodation scenarios.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the critical policies that every restaurant should have on hand to be compliant with current employment laws

2. Examine the pitfalls of relying on an out-of-date employee handbook, and what legislative trends warrant reevaluating existing policies

3. Develop best practices for working with HR and managers to address policy administration, including anti-discrimination policies, wage and hour, customer service and security policies, which can mitigate the risk of potential litigation