MSPB Law Week covers the basics of charges, penalties and performance cases, with special emphasis on leave abuse and medical issues. Join top MSPB practitioners and topic authors, and learn the law, strategies, and techniques from their many years of combined experience.
Become a certified MSPB practitioner: MSPB Law Week participants are eligible for the FELTG Certified Practitioner Program.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins
Daily Agenda:
Monday
Adverse Actions: The five elements of every disciplinary case and the burdens of proof, the fundamentals of penalty selection and defense, obtaining testimony to protect the penalty selection should one or more charges fail, types of evidence necessary to support a penalty selection, the MSPB’s power to mitigate a penalty and recent trends in the Board’s use of that authority, educating uninformed arbitrators, using alternatives to discipline
Tuesday
Charges: Types of charges, parts of a charge, how charges are interpreted, the role of the proposing and deciding officials, capitalizing on the general charge, allowing the inclusion of lesser-included offenses, charging in the alternative, attractive options to difficult charges and common charging mistakes, proving the difficult “intent” charge element, a step by step approach to charge drafting.
Wednesday
Penalties: MSPB and Federal Circuit lead cases in penalty determination, getting “intent” penalties off of “non-intent” charges, proving harsh penalties off of vanilla charges, charging down and proving up, how the maximum penalty is established, an update of recent Board and court decisions: what’s really new and what’s old wine in new bottles, placing the emphasis on notice, the Obama-Board and big penalty mitigation changes.
Thursday
Unacceptable Performance: Performance actions in perspective, drafting a defensible performance standard, implementing PIP’s, defeating the PIP rollercoaster, accommodating disability-related poor performance, converting an unacceptable performance problem into a Part 752 disciplinary action, termination based on failing a performance quiz.
Friday
Defending Against Affirmative Defenses: Claims of harmful error; whistleblower reprisal; reprisal for union activity; excessive penalty findings. Special Discussion: Recent Procedural Errors.
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
- 5 days = $2070
- 4 days = $1700
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Employee leave abuse and performance issues can be so frustrating for federal supervisors.
It’s essential for supervisors to understand the laws, regulations, policies and procedures associated with employee leave and attendance issues in the federal workplace. There are many leave categories, and different procedures and entitlements that come along with each. Supervisors also need to understand how to handle leave abuse and to use appropriate tools to correct employee behavior, while keeping in mind special cases involving reasonable accommodation, excessive absence and medical inability to perform.
Often, performance issues go right along with attendance issues: performance appraisals, end of cycle ratings on tough-to-track elements; discussing performance problems with employees; dealing with generic performance plans, and taking defensible performance-based actions.
FELTG’s own Barbara Haga will take the mystery out of how the leave and performance systems are supposed to work in the federal government in this brand-new two-day program. Ms Haga has over 30 years of experience working with HR on leave issues and performance appraisal systems, so you won’t want to miss the chance to attend this event.
Take a look at the agenda below.
Instructor
Daily Agenda:
Wednesday
Understanding Leave and Workplace Absences: Legal, regulatory, and procedural requirements related to annual leave, sick leave, FMLA, LWOP; family care under sick leave and FMLA; leave for new parents; medical certification requirements; leave transfer; court leave; military leave; dealing with leave abuse; enforced leave and indefinite suspension; reasonable accommodation and leave; separation disability retirement; dealing with excessive absence.
Thursday
Making Performance Plans Work: Legal and regulatory background; environment; system requirements; elements and standards; feedback; applying performance plans; MSPB decisions on performance measures; performance plan review; Within-Grade Increases; unacceptable performance; performance improvement period; taking performance-based actions.
Pricing
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Instructor
Course Description
The law requires federal agencies to engage in the interactive process when assessing reasonable accommodations for employees who have disabilities. In 2017, telework, leave and modified work schedules are among the most commonly requested – and most effective – accommodations for individuals who have physical and mental disabilities. But telework is often requested in cases where the “convenience” of working from home is called in to question. What should you do in those situations?
Join FELTG Executive Director and Attorney at Law Deborah Hopkins for a discussion on this timely topic during the 90-minute webinar Telework and Leave as Reasonable Accommodation. Ms Hopkins will start with a quick review of the law, and will detail the required three-step process for agencies to be compliant when dealing with reasonable accommodation requests.
From there, she’ll discuss:
- What to do if telework would be an effective accommodation – but something else would work too
- Why accommodations are always the agency’s choice
- Alternative approaches to providing telework, leave and modified work schedules as accommodation
- The undue hardship analysis
- What the EEOC says about accommodating an employee’s commute
Oftentimes the best way to learn is by looking at real-life case studies, so the session will include a discussion on recent federal cases – won and lost – involving telework and reasonable accommodation. Because of the cost incurred when handling a reasonable accommodation complaint, your agency EEO staff, reasonable accommodation coordinators, disability coordinators, HR staff and supervisors truly cannot afford to miss this event.
Price
$270 per site
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Instructors: Deborah Hopkins, Katherine Atkinson, Rock Rockenbach
Course Description
Meet your mandatory EEO Counselor and Investigator refresher training with FELTG this summer. Each 90-minute session provides 1.5 hours toward the annual refresher requirement mandated by EEOC. Register for the entire series and receive a bonus supplement of materials on interviewing skills, to complete the hours of content mandated by EEOC to fulfill the entire 8-hour refresher requirement. Series attendees will receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the series.
Sessions
Wednesday, June 28: EEO Complaints in 2017: What Counselors and Investigators Need to Know
Wednesday, July 12: Understanding Current Issues: Reasonable Accommodation Trends in 2017
Wednesday, July 26: The Latest on Sexual Orientation and Gender Discrimination in the Federal Government
Wednesday, August 9: Updates on Discrimination: Recent Cases about Race, Color, Religion and National Origin
Wednesday, August 23: Practical Skills for Counselors and Investigators: Interviewing Complainants and Witnesses
Price
$270 per session. Register for all five by June 23 and pay only $1180!
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 per person, per session, on a space available basis.
Instructor
Course Description
Selecting a defensible penalty is crucial part of the disciplinary process. Adding to the challenge, in the past few years the MSPB has been all over the place regarding penalties for comparator employees. And because we are under a new administration – and are waiting for new Board Members to be announced – this topic is one causing concern and confusion throughout the federal employment law world.
FELTG President, attorney and noted author William Wiley is here to make sure you have the tools you need to select an appropriate penalty for employee misconduct. He’ll start this 90-minute session by discussing the most recent and relevant MSPB and Federal Circuit cases in penalty determination, providing information on getting “intent” penalties off of “non-intent” charges, and explaining the concept of “charging down and proving up.”
He’ll also cover:
- Establishing the maximum penalty
- Notice requirements
- Considerations if your agency uses a Table of Penalties
- How to defend your agency against the Terrible Trilogy and Fearsome Foursome
- The importance of the Douglas factors in penalty determination and how to make those Douglas factors sing
As always, this session is held live and gives you a chance to ask your questions, and get immediate answers. Attorneys and HR practitioners alike will want to make plans to attend. But space is limited, so register your site today!
Price
$270 per site
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 each, on a space-available basis
As an Employee Relations Specialist, you have a challenging job, and you never know just what personnel challenges might find a spot on your ever-increasing “to do” list.
This seminar starts by grounding the student in the laws, regulations and policies associated with job functions, and provides an explanation on how ER fits within the agency’s greater HR function. After the basics, we’ll dive in to a number of unique topics, which include (but definitely are not limited to) performance plans, standards and recognition; hours of work — including overtime and compensatory time; pay and RIFs; furloughs; handling specific disciplinary situations; leave – including types, accrual, FMLA, military leave and leave stacking; involuntary separations; dispute resolution; EAPs; medical issues and injury compensation; drug testing; plus basic EEO information – including disparate treatment, disparate impact and reasonable accommodation.
Daily sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Instructor
Daily Agenda:
Monday
Introduction to Employee Relations: Functions, key terms and concepts; intersection of Employee Relations and Labor Relations; merit system principles; hours of work; modified schedules; overtime; types of leave.
Tuesday
Leave Administration: Introduction to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); Medical documentation; military leave; administrative leave; performance management appraisal periods; monitoring performance; grievances and appeals; 432 actions.
Wednesday
Performance Issues & Introduction to EEO: Performance Plans; Performance measures; employee recognition; Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs); introduction to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): framework and disparate impact.
Thursday
Discipline Issues: Discipline Overview; Responsibilities of HR and supervisors; adverse actions; penalties; alternative discipline; standards of proof; harmful error; specific disciplinary situations; methods of dispute resolution.
Friday
Employee Relations Potpourri: Separations, Retirement; Involuntary Actions; Medical issues: qualification and documentations; reasonable accommodation; drug testing; roles and responsibilities of HR in the process.
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
- 5 days = $2070
- 4 days = $1700
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Instructors: Deborah Hopkins, Katherine Atkinson, Rock Rockenbach
Course Description
Meet your mandatory EEO Counselor and Investigator refresher training with FELTG this summer. Each 90-minute session provides 1.5 hours toward the annual refresher requirement mandated by EEOC. Register for the entire series and receive a bonus supplement of materials on interviewing skills, to complete the hours of content mandated by EEOC to fulfill the entire 8-hour refresher requirement. Series attendees will receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the series.
Sessions
Wednesday, June 28: EEO Complaints in 2017: What Counselors and Investigators Need to Know
Wednesday, July 12: Understanding Current Issues: Reasonable Accommodation Trends in 2017
Wednesday, July 26: The Latest on Sexual Orientation and Gender Discrimination in the Federal Government
Wednesday, August 9: Updates on Discrimination: Recent Cases about Race, Color, Religion and National Origin
Wednesday, August 23: Practical Skills for Counselors and Investigators: Interviewing Complainants and Witnesses
Price
$270 per session. Register for all five by June 23 and pay only $1180!
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 per person, per session, on a space available basis.
With a new administration in place, your guess is as good as ours about what the state of federal labor relations might become over the next few years. Some major areas of labor law haven’t changed in over 30 years, and some are poised to change soon. Every labor attorney, human resource specialist, and union representative in government needs to have both a firm foundation in the historical perspective and precedence of FLRA decisions, as well as a strategy for taking advantage of any new approaches that are coming out of an ever-evolving Federal Labor Relations Authority. This training week, updated to reflect the current state of the law, does just that.
The program runs 8:30 – 4:00 each day.
Become a certified FLRA practitioner: FLRA Law Week participants are eligible for the FELTG Certified Practitioner Program.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins
Daily Agenda
Monday
Basic Management and Employee Rights: An overview of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute; fundamental employee, union, and management rights; bargaining unit definition; the union organizer’s role; information requests; and official time
Tuesday
Meetings and Bargaining: More on official time, when is the agency obligated to invite a union rep into a formal discussion, the collective bargaining process, the three categories of bargaining, management rights and management maybe’s.
Wednesday
Unfair Labor Practices and Negotiability: What happens when the FLRA comes knocking; what subjects must be bargaining, may not be bargained, and what subjects may be bargained at the agency’s discretion; the Federal Services Impasse Panel; negotiability appeals.
Thursday
Redress Alternatives and the Psychology of Bargaining: The interplay among grievances, appeals, MSPB, and EEOC; exceptions to arbitration awards; selecting a bargaining strategy; there are good ways and bad ways to implement bargaining and a lot of psychology is involved.
Friday
Two Bargaining Approaches and Arbitration Issues: Interest based bargaining as compared to hard ball bargaining, arbitration process overview, binding the arbitrator, how federal government arbitration is different from private sector arbitration and appeals, educating the arbitrator.
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
- 5 days = $2070
- 4 days = $1700
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Instructor
Course Description
Schedule A hiring authority allows agencies to hire individuals with disabilities non-competitively, thus eliminating the need to post a job opening or certify a certain number of candidates for an open position. The use of Schedule A is beneficial to agencies and to qualified employees with disabilities, but many agencies don’t understand the process or how to take advantage of this special authority.
Join FELTG instructor Rock Rockenbach, attorney at law, as he discusses how agencies can best determine which jobs fit with Schedule A authority, and how to decide whether those appointments should be temporary or permanent. He’ll cover the placement process and the steps to providing reasonable accommodation under Schedule A, and will clarify the meaning of targeted disabilities and how those fit into the overall scheme of Schedule A hiring.
In addition, Mr. Rockenbach will discuss:
- The two-year probationary period under Schedule A
- Performance and conduct standards for Schedule A employees
- How to recruit qualified candidates
- Hiring individuals with targeted disabilities
- Converting Schedule A employees to permanent, competitive employees
Attend this FELTG seminar to learn all you need to know about taking advantage of Schedule A – thus reducing onboarding time from months to weeks – at your agency. Disability program managers, EEO and HR staff, OGC attorneys, and even supervisors won’t want to miss this one.
Price
$270 per site
Teleworkers may be registered for $25 each, in addition to a main site registration. Contingent on available space.
Attention all HR professionals and supervisors – this is a BRAND NEW and IMPORTANT training on a mandatory directive from the Office of Management and Budget, and you won’t get it anywhere else.
OMB Directive M-17-22, the Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government and Reducing the Federal Civilian Workforce, requires agencies to eliminate unnecessary barriers to addressing poor performance contained in agency policies. This one-day course will give you the tools you need to analyze your existing appraisal system and to ensure that it helps managers to effectively and quickly deal with poor performance in the federal workplace – and to be able to survive third-party review.
Topics covered include:
- Focusing on accountability for job performance
- Designing and perfecting the appraisal system to ensure accountability
- Within-grade increases (WIGIs) and their impact on accountability
- Eliminating unacceptable performance requirements that are not based on law/regulation (and waste your valuable time!)
The program runs 8:30 – 4:15.
Instructors
Agenda:
Coming Soon!
Pricing
- 1 day = $460
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Instructors
Deborah Hopkins, Shana Palmieri
Course Description
Attention federal supervisors, HR professionals, medical professionals, attorneys, and other agency employees:
- What should you do when an employee with a behavioral health issue has an episode in the workplace?
- What steps should you take if the employee threatens violence or suicide?
- Or, in a worst-case scenario, what do you do if someone actually becomes violent in the federal workplace?
Crisis management in the federal workplace is a critical area to understand – it is truly life and death. Join FELTG Executive Director Deborah Hopkins and Shana Palmieri, Director of Community Services and Behavioral Health at the Kalihi-Palama Health Center, on Wednesday, July 26 for the workshop Handling Behavioral Health Issues and Instances of Violence in the Federal Workplace.
The session will begin with an overview of the need-to-knows about the ADA requirements on accommodating individuals with mental impairments and other behavioral health issues, and will also discuss your agency’s legal obligation to provide its employees with a safe workplace.
From there the seminar will continue with discussions and workshops on:
- Types of mental disabilities and how they may exhibit in the workplace
- The “direct threat” analysis
- Dealing with suicidal employees
- Dos and don’ts when working employees who have behavioral health issues
- Myths and facts about targeted violence in the workplace
- Individual characteristics that put an employee at higher risk of committing an act of violence
- Steps to take if someone becomes violent in the workplace
Plus, we’ll show you how to develop and implement an in-house threat management team to deal with threat assessments, risk management, and the best ways to keep employees safe during a crisis. This is a session you truly can’t afford to miss.
The program runs from 8:30 – 4:00.
Pricing
- 1 day = $460
Instructors: Deborah Hopkins, Katherine Atkinson, Rock Rockenbach
Course Description
Meet your mandatory EEO Counselor and Investigator refresher training with FELTG this summer. Each 90-minute session provides 1.5 hours toward the annual refresher requirement mandated by EEOC. Register for the entire series and receive a bonus supplement of materials on interviewing skills, to complete the hours of content mandated by EEOC to fulfill the entire 8-hour refresher requirement. Series attendees will receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the series.
Sessions
Wednesday, June 28: EEO Complaints in 2017: What Counselors and Investigators Need to Know
Wednesday, July 12: Understanding Current Issues: Reasonable Accommodation Trends in 2017
Wednesday, July 26: The Latest on Sexual Orientation and Gender Discrimination in the Federal Government
Wednesday, August 9: Updates on Discrimination: Recent Cases about Race, Color, Religion and National Origin
Wednesday, August 23: Practical Skills for Counselors and Investigators: Interviewing Complainants and Witnesses
Price
$270 per session. Register for all five by June 23 and pay only $1180!
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 per person, per session, on a space available basis.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Instructors: Deborah Hopkins, Katherine Atkinson, Rock Rockenbach
Course Description
Meet your mandatory EEO Counselor and Investigator refresher training with FELTG this summer. Each 90-minute session provides 1.5 hours toward the annual refresher requirement mandated by EEOC. Register for the entire series and receive a bonus supplement of materials on interviewing skills, to complete the hours of content mandated by EEOC to fulfill the entire 8-hour refresher requirement. Series attendees will receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the series.
Sessions
Wednesday, June 28: EEO Complaints in 2017: What Counselors and Investigators Need to Know
Wednesday, July 12: Understanding Current Issues: Reasonable Accommodation Trends in 2017
Wednesday, July 26: The Latest on Sexual Orientation and Gender Discrimination in the Federal Government
Wednesday, August 9: Updates on Discrimination: Recent Cases about Race, Color, Religion and National Origin
Wednesday, August 23: Practical Skills for Counselors and Investigators: Interviewing Complainants and Witnesses
Price
$270 per session. Register for all five by June 23 and pay only $1180!
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 per person, per session, on a space available basis.
Instructor
Course Description
If you’ve been following the news lately, you’ve probably heard that people who “leak” information to the press or to Congress are the target of negative attention and in some cases are fired for their disclosures.
Listen up, folks: another word for “leaker” is “whistleblower.” So when you hear that someone is firing “leakers,” keep in mind that there are good leakers and there are bad leakers, according to the law. Good leakers are whistleblowers who cannot be disciplined; bad leakers are civil servants who disclose information prohibited from disclosure by law and who can be fired. Do you know the difference? If not, you’d better learn quickly – and we are here to help.
Congress has provided whistleblowers with the highest level of protection from reprisal for disclosures of waste, fraud or abuse in the government. Join FELTG President William Wiley on August 10 for a 90-minute webinar on this topic. After providing the statutory basis and explaining the civil service protections of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, he will discuss:
- The categories of protected disclosures
- How to handle disclosures that turn out to be false
- The appropriate avenues of protected disclosure
- What constitutes whistleblower reprisal – and how to avoid it
- Evidence needed to discipline a whistleblower for misconduct unrelated to whistleblowing
You won’t want to miss this important – and timely – session. Register your site today.
Price
$270 per site
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 each, on a space-available basis.
Instructor
Course Description
Resignations and retirements are normally voluntary – but can they become involuntary? How bad is it if a resignation or retirement is judged to be involuntary? Spoiler alert: you DON’T want this to happen to you.
For those answers – and much more – join instructor Barbara Haga on August 17 as she explains what exactly about resignations and retirements make them voluntary, and the management actions that might cause an employee-initiated action to be overturned by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) as a constructive removal.
She’ll also cover
- Regulatory requirements related to withdrawal of resignations and retirements
- Various problem elements in involuntary separation cases
- Who shares in the responsibility if an employee-initiated action is ruled to be involuntary
- Strategies to avoid so that your agency’s actions won’t be overturned
- A review of relevant MSPB decisions
Plus, you’ll have the chance to ask your questions and get them answered in real time, during this live 90-minute event. The information that will be covered in this seminar is not something you want to learn the hard way! Register your site today.
Price
$270 per site
Teleworkers may be registered for $25 each, in addition to a main site registration. Contingent on available space.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Instructors: Deborah Hopkins, Katherine Atkinson, Rock Rockenbach
Course Description
Meet your mandatory EEO Counselor and Investigator refresher training with FELTG this summer. Each 90-minute session provides 1.5 hours toward the annual refresher requirement mandated by EEOC. Register for the entire series and receive a bonus supplement of materials on interviewing skills, to complete the hours of content mandated by EEOC to fulfill the entire 8-hour refresher requirement. Series attendees will receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the series.
Sessions
Wednesday, June 28: EEO Complaints in 2017: What Counselors and Investigators Need to Know
Wednesday, July 12: Understanding Current Issues: Reasonable Accommodation Trends in 2017
Wednesday, July 26: The Latest on Sexual Orientation and Gender Discrimination in the Federal Government
Wednesday, August 9: Updates on Discrimination: Recent Cases about Race, Color, Religion and National Origin
Wednesday, August 23: Practical Skills for Counselors and Investigators: Interviewing Complainants and Witnesses
Price
$270 per session. Register for all five by June 23 and pay only $1180!
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 per person, per session, on a space available basis.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga.
Course Description
Back by popular demand, and expanded to include new topics in 2017! Join FELTG for the most comprehensive supervisory training event available anywhere. Supervising Federal Employees: Important Tools for Managers and Advisers, a 13-part webinar training series (with a bonus session for those who supervise unionized employees), is targeted specifically to the issues and challenges faced by supervisors in agencies across the country, and around the world.
These 60-minute sessions, held every other Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. eastern time, will expand upon legal principles to provide federal supervisors with the necessary tools and best practices they need to manage the agency workplace effectively and efficiently. Plus, they’ll have a chance to ask questions and get answers – in real time.
As a special bonus, the first six modules fulfill OPM’s mandatory training requirements for new supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
2017 dates:
March 7: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct: The Foundation: The distinction between performance and conduct; an overview on holding employees accountable; setting the stage for discipline
March 21: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part I: The five elements of discipline in the federal government; documentation supervisors need to succeed in a disciplinary action
April 4: Disciplining Employees for Misconduct, Part II: Disciplinary procedures: reprimand, suspension, termination; appeals process; agency liability
April 18: Preparing an Unacceptable Performance Case: Performance in a nutshell; preparing a performance case; proof and evidence standards
May 2: Dealing with Poor Performing Employees: Managing the PIP; proposed removal letters; unacceptable performance documents
May 16: Leading and Mentoring a Multigenerational Workforce: What OPM says about mentorship; mentorship styles; formal and informal mentorship; pilot mentorship programs; best practices for leadership
May 30: Writing Effective Performance Plans: Performance management; understanding the system; defining elements and standards; creating the performance plan
June 13: What Supervisors Should Know about EEO: Overview of Title VII protections; protected categories; theories of discrimination; the supervisor’s role in the EEO process
June 27: Tackling Leave Issues: Handling the leave issues most common in the federal government; annual leave; sick leave; LWOP and FMLA
July 11: Disability Accommodation in 60 Minutes: Defining a disability; requests for accommodation; the interactive process; accommodations of choice; undue hardship
July 25: Important Developments in Sex Discrimination: Current information on LGBT discrimination and gender stereotyping; tangible employment action vs. hostile work environment; same-sex harassment
August 8: Preventing Discrimination Based on Religion and National Origin: Religious discrimination; reasonable accommodation for religion; national origin discrimination: speak English only rules; accent discrimination
August 22: Managing a Mobile Workforce: Telework and alternative work schedules; managing employees who aren’t there; handling performance and conduct problems with teleworkers; best practices for telework
September 5: Supervising in a Unionized Environment: The right to be bargained with; forming a union; employee and union rights; ULPs
Price
- $220 per site, per session.
- Teleworkers may be added to a primary site registration for $25 each, per session,
- Special series discounts available through March 1. See registration form for details.
Instructors
Deborah Hopkins, Shana Palmieri
Course Description
We see it every single week – a disgruntled employee, customer, or someone who is upset with an employee goes in to a workplace with a weapon, and kills innocent people. What should you do if someone threatens violence in your federal agency? How can you best prepare yourself to protect the lives of those around you? Are there risk factors that might give you an indication of when someone will become violent?
This topic is too important to ignore, so join FELTG for the webinar Handling Violence and Threats of Violence in the Federal Workplace. This program will be instructed by Deborah Hopkins, FELTG Executive Director, and Shana Palmieri, FELTG instructor and LCSW who specialized in mental health and who handled the aftermath of the Navy Yard shooting in 2013.
The session will begin with an overview of the legal issues that agencies encounter when dealing with an employee whose behavior poses a risk to workplace safety. From there the conversation will shift to:
- Warning signs that violence may be imminent, and dynamic risk and protective factors for workplace targeted violence
- How the ADA and the “direct threat” analysis interplay with circumstances to mandate an internal threat assessment investigation
- Equipping Threat Management Teams to respond to threats or violent acts
- Understanding the behavioral health issues that contribute to violent behavior – and those that don’t
- Domestic or intimate partner violence and the federal workplace
The webinar will also include time for Q & A on these topics. This is a session you truly can’t afford to miss, so register your site today.
Price
$270 per site
Teleworkers may be added to a main site registration for $25 each, on a space-available basis.
Two spots left! Download Registration Form
MSPB Law Week covers the basics of charges, penalties and performance cases, with special emphasis on leave abuse and medical issues. Join top MSPB practitioners and topic authors, and learn the law, strategies, and techniques from their many years of combined experience.
The program runs 8:30 – 4:00 each day.
Become a certified MSPB practitioner: MSPB Law Week participants are eligible for the FELTG Certified Practitioner Program.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins
Daily Agenda
Monday
Adverse Actions: Statutory basis including the Civil Service Reform Act; the new Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act; he five elements of every disciplinary case and the burdens of proof, the fundamentals of penalty selection and defense, obtaining testimony to protect the penalty selection should one or more charges fail, types of evidence necessary to support a penalty selection, the MSPB’s power to mitigate a penalty and recent trends in the Board’s use of that authority, educating uninformed arbitrators, using alternatives to discipline.
Tuesday
Charges: Types of charges, parts of a charge, how charges are interpreted, the role of the proposing and deciding officials, capitalizing on the general charge, allowing the inclusion of lesser-included offenses, charging in the alternative, attractive options to difficult charges and common charging mistakes, proving the difficult “intent” charge element, a step by step approach to charge drafting.
Wednesday
Penalties: MSPB and Federal Circuit lead cases in penalty determination, getting “intent” penalties off of “non-intent” charges, proving harsh penalties off of vanilla charges, charging down and proving up, how the maximum penalty is established, an update of recent Board and court decisions: what’s really new and what’s old wine in new bottles, placing the emphasis on notice, the Obama-Board and big penalty mitigation changes.
Thursday
Unacceptable Performance: Performance actions in perspective, drafting a defensible performance standard, implementing PIP’s, defeating the PIP rollercoaster, accommodating disability-related poor performance, converting an unacceptable performance problem into a Part 752 disciplinary action, termination based on failing a performance quiz.
Friday
Defending Against Affirmative Defenses: Claims of harmful error; whistleblower reprisal; reprisal for union activity; excessive penalty findings. Special Discussion: Recent Procedural Errors.
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
- 5 days = $2070
- 4 days = $1700
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
As an Employee Relations Specialist, you have a challenging job –- and once you know the basics, you realize there is always more to learn. So, FELTG is happy to present Advanced Employee Relations, a three-day seminar focused on immersing you in the employee relations topics you need most.
Held in Norfolk, VA in September 2017, you’ll receive in-depth training on topics including leave, performance, misconduct and more. Plus, hands-on workshops will allow you to leave with the tools you’ll need to succeed.
The program runs 8:30 – 4:30 each day.
Instructor
Daily Agenda:
Tuesday
Leave and Attendance: Administering leave, with particular emphasis on sick leave, LWOP, and FMLA. Detailed review of sick leave provisions including authorized purposes for use of sick leave, limitations on use of sick leave for family care and bereavement, eligibility to use leave for care, notice requirements, acceptable documentation. Management actions to control use of leave and abuse of sick leave. Detailed review of FMLA provisions including eligibility to invoke FMLA, entitlement, coverage of family members, administration and notice requirements. Aacceptable medical documentation under FMLA, definition of serious health condition. Substitution of paid leave. Discipline tied to FMLA. LWOP – when LWOP is mandatory, limits on granting LWOP, employee status while on extended LWOP. Other topics –issues related to annual leave and leave transfer, other leave entitlements.
Wednesday
Performance Management: Managing performance from system establishment to conducting annual appraisals to taking actions linked to performance. GEAR initiative and other efforts focused on modifying Federal performance management system. Requirements for performance plans, including design of agency systems, rating schemes, and procedures for conducting appraisals. Revised DOD performance system to be implemented in 2016. Linkage between appraisal and other personnel management decisions, including reduction-in-force and within-grade increases. Writing effective and measurable performance criteria that will withstand third-party review, including a workshop where participants will do an in-depth review of performance plans. Requirements for successful performance-based actions – from drafting a PIP notice that will withstand scrutiny to conducting a bona fide PIP to ensuring that due process is met in effecting an action on unacceptable performance.
Thursday
Misconduct and Other Related Issues: Implementation of a successful disciplinary program – delegation of authority, role of advisors, warnings and cautions, use of administrative leave. Nexus. Dealing with comparators in determining a penalty. Involuntary actions – resignations and retirements. Ordering and Offering medical examinations. Specific disciplinary situations: handling situations when an employee is unable to perform including excessive leave, disability retirement, separation disability; conduct unbecoming; misuse and technology-related misconduct; failure to meet conditions of employment.
Pricing
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Full-week registrations are sold out – space is still available for Monday, Thursday and Friday. Download Registration Form or register now for the full EEOC Law Week April 9-13, 2018 in Washington, DC.
This seminar is a fast-paced week of strategies, principles, and authorities relative to the major aspects of the field of discrimination law in the federal government. FELTG speakers draw on many years of experience from all three sides of the litigation table to provide both the beginning and the experienced practitioner with the foundation to work successfully in the entire field of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) law.
The program runs 8:30 – 4:00 each day.
Become a certified EEO practitioner: EEOC Law Week participants are eligible for the FELTG Certified Practitioner Program.
Instructors
Ernest Hadley, Deborah Hopkins, Meghan Droste
Daily Agenda
Monday
Basic EEOC, Nuts & Bolts: The Basics – Statutory authority and jurisdiction of EEOC, theories of discrimination, overview of EEO process, amended and consolidated complaints; timeliness issues in the wake of the Supreme Court decisions in Morgan and Ledbetter.
Tuesday
Current Trends in EEO Law: The latest on what’s happening in EEO, hostile environment harassment, gender stereotyping, same-sex harassment sexual orientation and transgender discrimination, retaliation, national origin and religious discrimination.
Wednesday
Accommodating Individuals with Disabilities: The Rehabilitation Act, and the NEW Americans’ with Disabilities Act, the latest of revised ADA regulations, the new Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) regulations; defining individuals with a disability, major life activities and substantial limitation; essential job functions, the interactive process, types of reasonable accommodation.
Thursday
Damages & Remedies; Settlement & ADR: Overview of Equitable Remedies: back pay, front pay, reinstatement; non-pecuniary and pecuniary damages, past and future damages, damages offsets, the duty to mitigate damages, collateral sources and pre-existing conditions, multiple causations of harm, the eggshell complainant. Settlement and ADR processes and what constitutes a good written agreement; what to include and what not to include.
Friday
Selection, Promotion, Discipline & Mixed Cases – An In-Depth Look: “Mixed” cases; selection and promotion cases, subjective and objective criteria, the “best qualified” candidate, disciplinary overview, the “comparable” employee, defending against pretext; case law update.
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
- 5 days = $2070
- 4 days = $1700
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Lodging
A limited block of rooms is reserved at the Kimpton Carlyle Hotel Dupont Circle, through August 17. Book here directly or call 1-800-KIMPTON to make a reservation through the reservation desk with the special code 09171FEL.
Instructor
Course Description
Unacceptable performers. Every agency has them – employees who don’t meet the minimum performance standards of their positions. How does an agency take appropriate, defensible action against poor performers? You might be surprised to know: it’s SO easy.
FELTG President, attorney and renowned author William Wiley answers that question – and several more – in this 90-minute webinar. He’ll begin the presentation by explaining the appropriate procedures to take when initiating an opportunity period and a subsequent Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and will highlight mistakes that your agency can’t afford to make in the PIP process.
In addition, Mr. Wiley will discuss:
- Critical time periods for the stages of performance-based actions
- How to draft and deliver performance documents
- The importance of holding employees accountable throughout the process
- Tips for managing problem employees during the notice period
- The necessary levels of proof an agency must maintain to defend a performance-based suspension or termination
It’s possible to remove a poor performer from the federal civil service in just 31 days. Attend this FELTG seminar to learn the appropriate methods to safeguard your agency when removing poor performers, and guarantee that your actions will stand.
Price
$270 per site
Teleworkers may be registered for $25 each, in addition to a main site registration. Contingent on available space.
Updated to reflect the most current, relevant topics related to employees who aren’t at work, this week brings together everything involving one of the most complex areas of federal sector employment law: absences from the workplace. Topics include employee leave, leave abuse, and medical issues as they relate to unacceptable performance and conduct, sick leave, annual leave, leave without pay, absence without leave, FMLA, ADA, OWCP, and telework.
The program runs 8:30 – 4:00 each day.
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins, Barbara Haga, Rock Rockenbach
Daily Agenda:
Monday – Leave Use & Abuse Overview
Types of leave and leave entitlements, overviews of Family Medical Leave Act leave, Office of Workers Compensation Program absences and leave as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, medical determinations, leave abuse, related offenses and controlling principles from case law.
Tuesday – Labor Relations & Other Leave
The impact of collective bargaining on leave-related issues, including negotiability of leave proposals, and relevant rulings of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Federal Service Impasses Panel; administrative leave; forced leave; funeral leave; military leave; miscellaneous leave scenarios.
Wednesday – FMLA Law & Policy
Federal sector FMLA basics, military family leave, serious health condition developments, medical certification issues, managing intermittent FMLA leave; discipline, FMLA and the under-performer; and employee notice issues.
Thursday – Reasonable Accommodation: Entitlements and Processes
The ADA Amendments Act; the reasonable accommodation process; the “regarded as” provision of the ADA; telework and leave as reasonable accommodation; religious accommodation.
Friday – Medical Documentation, Medical Requests and Record Confidentiality
How the ADAAA and GINA impact the collection of medical information; pre- and post-employment medical exams and inquiries; conditional employment offers; medical documentation requests; direct threat; conflicting regulations and contra court decisions.
Pricing
Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.
- 5 days = $2070
- 4 days = $1700
- 3 days = $1310
- 2 days = $930
- 1 day = $510
Lodging
A limited block of rooms is reserved at the Kimpton Carlyle Hotel Dupont Circle, through August 23. Book here directly or call 1-800-KIMPTON to make a reservation through the reservation desk with the special code 0924FELT.
Holding federal employees accountable for performance and conduct is easier than you might think. Too many supervisors believe that an employee’s protected activity (EEO complaints, whistleblower disclosures, or union activity) precludes the supervisor from initiating a suspension or removal, but that’s just not true.
FELTG is here to make federal supervisors’ lives easier by clarifying those misconceptions while helping supervisors understand how to take defensible misconduct actions quickly and fairly – actions that withstand scrutiny on appeal by the MSPB, EEOC, or in grievance arbitration. Plus, if you have a non-performing employee working for you now, we show you how you can remove that employee from your workplace in 31 days, among many other things. Join us for this brand-new three-day seminar and come away with the tools you need to hold your employees accountable.
The program runs 8:30 – 4:00 each day and meets OPM’s mandatory training requirements for federal supervisors found at 5 CFR 412.202(b).
Instructors
William Wiley, Deborah Hopkins
Daily Agenda:
Wednesday
Accountability for Conduct and Performance, Part I: Accountability and supervisory authority; discipline and misconduct theory and practice; penalty defense and due process; discipline procedures and appeals; psychology of performance appraisal; performance-based removal procedures.
Thursday
Accountability for Conduct and Performance, Part II: Completing a performance action; team workshop; mentoring programs; handling the absent employee; union considerations; understanding the federal supervisor’s personal liability in employment actions.
Friday
Defending Against Discrimination Complaints: The Supervisor’s Role: The role of EEO in the federal government; defining protected categories: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, genetic information and reprisal; theories of discrimination; agency defenses; what to do if you’re a Responding Management Official in a complaint; what happens if you’re called as an EEO witness.
Pricing
- 3 days = $1325
- 2 days = $945
- 1 day = $525
Seminar registration includes a copy of the textbook UnCivil Servant: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct, 4th ed.