Private Sector Training Courses

FELTG training isn’t just for federal agencies – we have several training programs for private sector organizations as well. Check out the list below.

PS-1: The Supervisor’s Role in EEO (1 day)

For many managers, the world of Equal Employment Opportunity is not just mysterious, but also foreboding. FELTG’s instructors aim to make it less so. An understanding of the EEO laws helps supervisors spot potential issues before they rise to the level of discrimination or harassment. Find out the role that you, as a supervisor, play and what you should do each step of the way. Failure to understand the process will lead to costly mistakes, with emphasis on the word costly. Attendees will leave this course with a thorough understanding of Equal Employment law basics and tools to help prevent harassment and discrimination before it starts.

Course Topics: The role of EEO protections in the workplace; defining protected categories: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability and reprisal; filing requirements; your organization’s legal obligations; liability in EEO cases; what to do if you’re a Responding Management Official in a complaint; defending against frivolous complaints.

PS-2: Preventing and Correcting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (1/2-1 day)

The #MeToo movement has had a clear influence on the workplace. There has been a noticeable increase in sexual harassment complaints, as well as fear and concern among supervisors about when actions or comments rise to the level of harassment. Supervisors who attend this course will learn their responsibilities to respond to harassment claims, as well as how to effectively address situations before they rise to the level of harassment.

Course Topics: Definition of sexual harassment; circumstances that constitute harassment; roles in harassment; tangible employment actions; hostile work environment harassment; same-sex harassment; company liability; strategies for prevention.

PS-3: Understanding Reasonable Accommodation (1 day)

How do you determine if an employee is disabled? What does qualified individual mean? What exactly is the interactive process? And how do you know if an accommodation is effective? This course will answers those questions, and dive into some of the most perplexing reasonable accommodation challenges, including requests to telework, leave as accommodation, who chooses the accommodation, invisible disabilities, and more.

Course Topics: Your organization’s obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act & Amendments Act; relevant regulations; the reasonable accommodation process; defining an individual with a disability; major life activities and substantial limitations; essential job functions; the interactive process; types of reasonable accommodation; denying accommodation; undue hardship; special challenges in reasonable accommodation.

PS-4: Conducting Effective Misconduct Investigations (1-2 days)

So, you’ve been told there’s potential misconduct by an employee, and you’ve been tasked with performing an investigation. Where do you begin? This thorough one- or two-day training will get you up to speed on the procedures and best practices for conducting investigations in the workplace, from planning the investigation to fact-finding and all the way to testifying at a deposition, hearing, arbitration or trial.

Course Topics: Criminal v. tort activity in the workplace; necessary evidence; misconduct-based investigations; fact-finding; employee legal rights during an investigation; testifying at hearing; Privacy Act considerations; investigating harassment complaints.

PS-5: Effectively Managing and Communicating with Your Employees (1-2 days)

There is a significant difference between managing and leading, and we’ll explain that difference in detail. Attendees will leave this training with the know-how to use social styles to communicate and manage conflict with precision, and a structured approach to high-stakes conversations.

Course Topics: Managing vs. leading; identifying and honing your supervisory skills; managing difficult employee personality types; managing a multigenerational workforce; managing a mobile workforce; using structured communication with your employees; conflict resolution skills; utilizing a team-based approach in your organization.

PS-6: Mindset Matters: Making the Transition from Individual Contributor to Supervisor (1 day)

Receiving a promotion is a career highlight. However, if that promotion means you’re now supervising your former co-workers, then it also means you’re about to navigate the trickiest part of your career. This one-day course is perfect those who have been promoted, or hope to be promoted at some point.

Course Topics: Assessing existing managerial knowledge, skills, behaviors, and confidence; understanding the art and science behind managing others; differentiating between a general mindset, positional mindset, and job-specific mindset; understanding the traits that directly correlate with the ability to accurately assess performance; create a personal development strategy to transition to supervision.

PS-7: Leadership Deep Dive (1-2 days)

Take one or two days to submerge yourself into this interactive course led by nationally recognized leadership scholar and trainer Dr. Anthony J. Marchese, and you’ll leave with a roadmap for continuously improving your leadership skills. The content can be emphasized and focused for the needs of the group in attendance.

Course Topics: Equipping individuals at all levels with the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and confidence to lead with excellence; research-inspired best-practices and a practice-driven approach to increasing leadership effectiveness; self-assessments; an easy-to-remember framework for managing conversations with employees; strategies for cultivating high-performing teams; recommendations to increase your influence within your organization.

PS-8: The High-Performing Team (1 day)

This interactive, full-day learning experience is based upon Social Styles, an industry-tested assessment that helps leaders leverage individual personality types and strengths to promote accurate communication, diminish unhealthy conflict, and increase individual and collective performance. The High-Performing Team, led by nationally recognized leadership scholar and trainer Dr. Anthony J. Marchese, includes assessments, relevant articles and videos, real-life simulations, and practical suggestions for ongoing sustainability.

Course Topics: The neuroscience behind peak performance; the composition of teams of excellence; strategies to understand and negotiate individual difference; align team goals with those of your organization.

PS-9: Handling Behavioral Health Issues and Threats of Violence in the Workplace (1-2 days)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Shana Palmieri will share practical and clinical guidance on how to avoid, manage and prepare for workplace crises — and properly deal with them should they occur. What are the warning signs that an employee may become violent? What are the best accommodations for employees with various mental health conditions? What’s the best way to intervene when you think an employee is suicidal?

Course Topics: Your organization’s legal obligation to provide its employees with a safe workplace; ADAAA requirements on accommodating individuals with mental impairments and other behavioral health issues; types of mental disabilities and how they may exhibit in the workplace; 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; developing and implementing an in-house threat management team to deal with threat assessments; risk management; the best ways to keep employees safe during a crisis.

PS-10: Strengths-based Strategies for Success (1 day)

Managers who help employees identify, develop, and strategically apply their strengths create a culture of high employee engagement and performance. According to Gallup, 67% of employees who strongly agree that their manager focuses on their strengths are engaged in their jobs. And according to OPM, 47% of disengaged millennials will leave their current employer for a culture where they feel they better “fit in.” This fun, interactive session will provide a tool for participants to assess their own strengths and plug in to the organizational mission.

Course Topics: Encourage a safe environment to explore their strengths; identify strategies for embedding strengths into job execution; introduce learners to the completion of their own Strengths-Based Strategies for Success Development Plan. Learners will leave with increased self-awareness, awareness of others, and practical tools to extend and apply their learning.

Upcoming Training Events

Mar

Mon

Virtual Training Event – MSPB Law Week

Tickets

Mar 27 – Mar 31 all-day

Course Description

The Board is back and moving quickly to address the large backlog of IRAs it inherited. It’s time to either sharpen your MSPB skills and refresh your knowledge or fall behind.

In the five years since MSPB last had a quorum, the civil service world, particularly as it applies to employee relations, has not stood still. Change happened, sometimes quickly. It’s important to be aware of the laws, regulations, and executive orders that apply to you.

There is one place you can consistently get the best guidance and most up-to-date information you need. MSPB Law Week covers the legal requirements and best practices for disciplinary charges and penalties, plus understanding the law and strategy in handling performance cases and defending against whistleblower reprisal complaints. Join top MSPB practitioners and topic authors, and learn the law, strategies, and techniques from their many years of combined experience.

Monday

The Foundations of Accountability; Adverse Actions: Statutory basis including the Civil Service Reform Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, the five elements of every disciplinary case and the burdens of proof, the fundamentals of penalty selection and defense, discipline procedures and appeals.

Tuesday

Disciplinary 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, penalty mitigation; law enforcement officer discipline.

Thursday

Unacceptable Performance: Performance actions in perspective, drafting a defensible performance standard, documenting and justifying your decision to put an employee on a Performance Demonstrating Period (DPs, formerly known as PIPs), implementing DPs, defeating the DP rollercoaster; the proof needed to take a performance-based action; removing a poor performer in 31 days.

Friday

Defending Against Whistleblower Reprisal Claims and other Affirmative Defenses: Whistleblower claims: protected disclosures and whistleblower reprisal, claims of harmful error, reprisal for union activity, excessive penalty findings.

Date and Time

March 27-31, 2023

12:30 – 4:30 pm ET each day (with a 30-minute break)

Instructors

Deborah Hopkins, Ann Boehm, Bob Woods

Registration

Download Individual Registration Form

Pricing

Most people attend the full training week, but you may opt out of any days you don’t plan to attend.

Early Bird Tuition (register by March 10):

5 days = $1640
4 days = $1405
3 days = $1030
2 days = $755
1 day = $425

Standard Tuition (register March 11-31):

5 days = $1740
4 days = $1505
3 days = $1130
2 days = $855
1 day = $525

Seminar registration includes a copy of the textbook UnCivil Servant: Holding Employees Accountable for Performance and Conduct, 5th ed., by Wiley and Hopkins. In order to receive your copy of the textbook by the training date, please register by March 10 and provide a shipping address in the designated space on the registration form.

Event FAQs

Can I attend Virtual Training from my government computer?
- FELTG uses Zoom for this Virtual Training Institute event. Many government computers and systems allow Zoom access. If for some reason your firewall will not allow access, you’re welcome to use your personal email address to register, and to attend the sessions from your personal device.
Can I earn CLE credits for this class?
- CLE applications are the responsibility of each attendee; FELTG does not apply for the credits on behalf of attendees. If you are seeking CLE credit, attendees may use the materials provided by FELTG in submission to your state bar. Attendees may also request a certificate of completion which will contain the number of training hours attended.
Can I share my access link with co-workers?
- No. Registration for this event is per individual, and access links may not be shared. Each link may only be used by one person.
Can I register a teleworker?
- This event is individual registration, so the cost is the same whether the person is teleworking or in an agency facility.
How do I receive a group rate discount?
- Group rates are available for agencies registering 10 or more individuals for the full event. Group discounts are available through March 10.

Cancellation and No-show Policy for Registered Participants: Cancellations made after the cancel date on the registration form will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. Pre-paid training using the “Pay Now” option will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses. No-shows will not be refunded or given credit toward future courses.

Apr

Tue

Virtual Training Event – Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law

Tickets

Apr 18 – Apr 21 all-day

Event Description

They just don’t get it. Some people think of the Federal workplace as a slow, monolithic bureaucracy. They don’t see the the abrupt changes in priorities that accompany every change in presidential administrations. They don’t understand how decisions by the Merit Systems Protection Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Labor Relations Authority, Federal Circuit, or even the Supreme Court can upend years (even decades sometimes) of policies and procedures. And we haven’t even touched on Office of Personnel Management regulations. They don’t see the challenges of ensuring the workplace is accountable, striving to make the workplace look more like America, and resolving disputes that could the end up costing those same taxpayers.

There are people in all sectors of work that have an easy job. But if you’re an HR professional, attorney, supervisor, or an EEO or ER/LR specialist, you’re not one of those people.

We’ve got you. We understand the impact of changing times, rules, and laws.

This year’s Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law provides the guidance to succeed in the dynamic (yes, dynamic) Federal Workplace. Learn from those you may see in the trenches, like former FELTG Instructor and current EEOC Administrative Judge Meghan Droste and arbitrator Joseph Schimansky. We’ll guide you through the ever-changing law, whether it’s justifying a PIP or recognizing the new face of reprisal. We’ll give you the path for moving forward, whether it’s overcoming bias or getting more use out of the probationary period.

With 11 unique sessions over four days, FELTG’s Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law offers an opportunity to receive guidance with a fresh perspective. And many sessions offer opportunities to pick up CLE or EEO refresher credits.

Emerging Issues in Federal Employment Law provides benefits you just can’t get from online virtual training providers. You can register for any of the sessions individually, or you can register for the whole program. Also, the training is presented LIVE by FELTG’s experienced and respected instructors, who will answer your questions, so you get answers in real time. Don’t put off getting the important training you need.

Download Individual Registration Form

This program meets the President’s mandate to provide training on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the Federal workplace.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Lessons Learned

Session 1

10:30 – 11:45 am ET

Avoiding Pitfalls: Advice from an EEOC AJ

Presented by Meghan Droste, Administrative Judge, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Course description: Be prepared. Be on time. Be civil. These are pretty basic expectations. Yet, they’re often forgotten once parties enter the EEO process. And once in the process, the potential pitfalls only increase. EEOC Administrative Judge Meghan Droste will discuss the common mistakes agencies make, from missing important deadlines to missing the mark in pleadings, whether it’s failing to provide citations to the record or exceeding page limits, or another reason. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear an EEOC AJ point out the specific perils you need to avoid to achieve success in the EEO process. Earn 1.25 CLE credits. 1.25

Session 2

1:00 – 2:15 pm ET

13 Months In: Tristan Leavitt Shares Important Lessons from the MSPB

Presented by Tristan Leavitt, former MSPB Member/President Empower Oversight; and Deborah J. Hopkins, Attorney at Law, FELTG President

Course Description: The Merit Systems Protection Board went through a tumultuous period recently. No one has had a bigger role during that time period than Tristan Leavitt. Leavitt served as a Board Member from 2022-2023 as part of the first quorum in over 5 years. Before that he served as General Counsel, and was the acting agency head after remaining Member Mark Robbins’ term expired in 2019. FELTG President Deborah J. Hopkins will talk with Leavitt about how he steered the Board through the long period with no members, and will discuss important takeaways on topics including the Board’s view on post-Santos performance cases, the pendulum swing on comparator employees over the past decade-plus, important lessons on whistleblower protections, and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Leavitt’s unique perspective. Ensure you’re prepared for the next time you have business with the agency. Earn 1.25 CLE credits.

Session 3

3:00 – 4:15 pm ET

What I’ve Learned: Advice from an Arbitrator

Presented by Joseph Schimansky, Former Executive Director/Federal Service Impasses Panel, FELTG Instructor

Course Description: The Federal Service Impasses Panel’s former Executive Director now spends his time, when not teaching for FELTG, arbitrating federal Labor Relations disputes. Joe Schimansky will share his guidance and advice on topics such as educating the arbitrator about your case, how the arbitrators view the Douglas factors in discipline cases, the rules in handling requests for attorney’s fees, navigating loser pays provisions, and the role of past practices when interpreting contract provisions.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023