Tammy Davis- Past- President

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Sheila Mennenga-President

Laurie Gates –President-Elect

Bobbie Helwig - Co-VP Programs

Bonnie Friske- Co-Vp Programs

Julie Hibbert- Certification Rep.

Julie Plunkett-Diversity Advocate

Trevor Mischke -Membership Rep.

Theresa Tesch - Treasurer

Charlotte Gamber -Foundation Rep.

Steve Hauck - Workforce Readiness

Paige Sullivan- Government Affairs

Myrna Becht- Secretary

Laurie Gates -Newsletter/Website

March’s Program

Unity In Diversity

March 25, 1pm – 3pm

Redlin Amphitheater, RedlinArtCenter

Featuring:

Sue Bogen ~ SD Department of Labor

“Is Your Business Missing Out?”

Tax Credits and Programs for all South Dakota Businesses

Richard Smith ~ Terex Corporation

“Why Diversity Efforts Fail:

A Discussion of Root Causes and Remedies”

Program Cost:FREE!

RSVP by: Mar. 18, 2011

RSVP:Please RSVP under the "Meetings and Events" tab on the NESD SHRM Chapter website:

From the President

~ By Sheila Mennenga

I’m trying to find a bright spot to all of the snow that is piled up outside my office window and the only thing I can come up with is that it’s easier to stay productive because I’m not longing to be outside! Your chapter Board of Directors must be feeling the same way, because they have all been busy planning a great year for our members and here are just a few highlights of what has already been accomplished:

New NESD SHRM Website - The new website is up and running and provides enhanced features for renewing your membership, additional news and resources and searching out your fellow NESD SHRM members. Check it out at

Wage & Benefit Survey – The 2011 Wage & Benefit Survey has been reviewed and several changes have been made to make survey reporting easier. Be watching for the survey, which will be sent out in a separate e-mail, in the next few days.

Programs– We have had two informative programs already this year and March will be no exception with the annual Diversity Fair. The first day of this two-day event (Friday, March 25) will feature guest speakers who will focus on diversity in the workplace. The second day (Saturday, March 26) will be open to the public and will be filled with music, food, inspirational stories and cultural presentations. Be sure to mark your calendar for this great event and the rest of the programs that are scheduled for 2011. (Did you miss January or February’s programs? Check out the program handouts on our new website!)

Annual Membership Renewal – It’s that time of year again to renewal your NESD SHRM membership (all memberships to our chapter run calendar year January – December). For several years, we have not increased our membership fees and this year is no exception, so if you have not renewed your membership for 2011, be sure to check out our website and renew today!

There are many great activities planned for 2011, so stay tuned, get involved…and think spring!!!

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Unity In Diversity

March 26 10am – 3:00pm

TerryRedlinArtCenter

No Cost to Attend – Bring the Entire Family

Join us for a day filled with music, cultural presentations, inspirational stories& great food!

10:00amFlag Procession, WatertownHigh School Jazz Band

11:00am Jacob Clark

11:30am Lear Family, From Haiti to America

12:30pm Mary Redlin, Empowering Women in Afghanistan

1:30pm Lynn Langner & Barb Miller, Turkish Delight

2:30pm Flag Procession with music by Bill Dempsey

Visit the many booths representing different cultures

that are found in our community!! ~Book reading in the Cabin with the Watertown Regional Library throughout the day~Ethnic Food Available byNatale & Green Emerald

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Upcoming SHRM Events:

2011 State SHRM Conference, 5/18- 5/20, Deadwood

SHRM 2011 Annual Conference and Exposition – 6/26 -6/29, Las Vegas

8 Reasons to Join or Renew Your NESD SHRM Membership!!!

All chapter memberships are for the calendar year. Please renew your membership before the deadline of March 31st so that you stay on our mailing list!

Exposure to other HR professionals and companies revealing how other organizations handle various human resource situations, procedure, & policies.
Access to a network of professionals and specialists providing HR information that might otherwise be difficult and/or expensive to obtain.
Opportunity to develop relationships and contacts in other companies to share Information on HR concerns.
Availability of local professional development opportunities to improve your competence.
Access to current best practices to make your organization more efficient, increase employee commitment, and help line managers carry out business strategy.
Availability of up-to-date information on pending legislation that may impact your company’s operations.
Opportunity to develop leadership skills by taking on a volunteer leadership role in a local chapter.
Development of a reputation and credentials in the HR field.

To renew your membership, go to the member info page on our chapter’s website at:

Or you may contact Trevor Mischke -Membership Representative at:

SHRM Foundation News

SHRM Foundation News:
Effective Practice Guidelines

If you are like most HR professionals, you probably lack the time to keep up with the latest research findings in human resource management. Yet knowing which HR practices have been shown by research to be effective can help you in your role as an HR professional. The SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines are a series of reports that distill the latest research findings and expert opinion into specific advice on how to conduct effective HR practice. They are written in a concise, easy-to-read style to provide practical information to help you do your job better.

The SHRM Foundation publishes new reports each year. Recent reports include, Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success and TheSearch forExecutive Talent: Understanding the Process and Setting Itin Motion.

Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Successwill explain how onboarding fits into the larger business context, what new employees can do to help facilitate theirown orientationprocess and why onboarding is a critical part of an effective talent managementstrategy.

The Search for Executive Talent: Understanding the Processand Setting It in Motionprovides an overviewof the executive search process and offers specific research-based recommendations for increasing its success rate.

Other titles in the seriesinclude Employment Downsizing and Its Alternatives, Recruiting and Attracting Talent; Retaining Talent; Developing Leadership Talent; Implementing Total Rewards Strategy; Learning System Design; Employee Engagement and Commitment; and more. All of the titles are available as free .pdf downloads under "SHRM Foundation Products" on theFoundation website ( Effective Practice Guidelines series is made possible by your tax-deductible contributions to the SHRM Foundation.

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FEBRUARY BOARD MEETING MINUTES~ By Myrna Becht

TheFebruary 2011 NESD SHRM Board meeting was held Tuesday,February 22, 2011 at Past Times. The meeting was called to order by President Sheila Mennenga. Roll call was not recorded. All members were present except Paige Sullivan. Motion was requested to approve the January, 2011 Meeting Minutes with no corrections or additions. Motion so moved byTammy Davis, seconded byJulie Plunkett. All Yea’s, no Nay’s. Motion carried.

Member Reports
Past President Report: Tammy gave an update on the SHAPE program. The SHAPE report has been submitted for the silver award.

Treasurer Report: Theresa handed out the January Financials for review. There was a difference of $575 in accounts receivable. We are using cash basis accrual and Mindy is using an accrual basis accrual which is causing memberships to be recorded that we haven’t received money for. Sheila pointed out that our new website may take care of that issue, but we will still need to work through the program fees. Sheila will register Theresa as an administrator on the website so she can track who has registered for programs.

Membership Report: Trevor handed out an updated membership report. We’re at 46 active members. He is also having some issues with matching the cash customers from the report that he gets from the Chamber. Trevor is following up with Summer. Now that the new website is up and running, Trevor will make some follow-up calls to make sure we haven’t missed anyone during the transition.

Diversity Advocate Report: Plans for the Diversity Fair are continuing to progress. The event is set for Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26. Attendance to the event is free. Discussion was held as to whether we are going to have people sign up for shifts to work the booth. Sheila will send out an email once she receives more information. We also discussed using the booth as a drop off for soap for the Global Soap Project, which recycles soaps from motels for distribution to other parts of the world.

Workforce Readiness Advocate Report: Steve reported that they are having a manufacturing information day at LATI on March 3 concerning the future of the manufacturing workforce.

Certification Representative Report: Julie reported that the safety program was submitted and approved for recertification credits. The Diversity Fair is set. If anyone is interested in certification, on-line would be your best options right now or they can call Julie for more information.

Co-Chairs of Programs Report: March will be the Diversity Fair. April is set for the Workers Compensation program. The Safety program will be held in May. We may also have a summer program. They are still looking at possibilities for that. Ideas for the fall programs are filling up fast. Bobbie printed up thank you cards for the board to sign and then they will have on hand to give to presenters, etc.

Old Business:

Wage & Benefit Survey-Laurie reported on the wage and benefit survey. Some changes have been made to make the form more user friendly. The survey was mailed to Kathleen Murphy today to make sure the new format and changes would work for them. We are hoping to send out the survey to participants next week. They are also hoping to get the survey out to approximately 100 Chamber members who are not SHRM members. Discussion was held on other possible changes, such as specifying Watertown area only (some companies have locations in other states).

Job descriptions – Board members were reminded to review and update their board member job descriptions. If there are any changes, please turn in to Sheila.

Pinnacle Project - Sheila reported that she did receive a few idea, but suggested forming a sub-committee. Laurie, Julie, Tammy & Sheila volunteered and a meeting will be held in the next few weeks to decide on a project for 2011.

Website – Board members are encouraged to review the new website. More suggestions/ideas would be greatly appreciated. We were the first chapter in SD to have the new website.

New Business:

The State Conference is in May in Deadwood. If anyone is interested in going, let Sheila know. We can do some car pooling. National speakers are lined up, so this should be a good conference.

Motion to adjourn by Tammy. Seconded by Julie Plunkett. All Yeas’, no Ney’s. Motion carried. Next Meeting will be held March 29th at Past Times.

Wage and Hour Litigation Continues to Snowball~By Allen Smith, SHRM

Employers continue to be besieged by wage and hour collective and class actions, remarked Michael Kun, an attorney with Epstein, Becker & Green in Los Angeles, speaking at the firm’s employment law conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 26, 2011.
The wave of class actions started with misclassification cases and has spread to meal and rest break cases, with the amounts at stake enormous. Now employers face greater enforcement by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which has launched initiatives guaranteed to increase the number of wage and hour claims in the country, Kun said.
The department’s We Can Help Campaign has included public service announcements encouraging workers to notify the department of violations. And its Bridge to Justice Program struck a deal with the American Bar Association to refer claimants to plaintiffs’ lawyers when the department decides not to investigate claims itself. Employers typically prefer investigation by the DOL to plaintiffs’ lawyers because they do not have to worry about attorneys’ fees with the DOL, he remarked.
In the courts in 2010, there was a 10 percent increase from 2009 in the number of wage and hour federal collective actions and class actions, Betsy Johnson, an Epstein, Becker & Green attorney in Los Angeles, commented. Settlements are higher, which is creating the incentive for more litigation, she remarked.
The plaintiffs’ bar is getting more creative, as most of the low-hanging fruit has been plucked. Exempt/nonexempt misclassification remains the source of much litigation, not just over store managers but also midlevel managers.
There are more novel off-the-clock claims as well. Non-exempts with BlackBerry devices are a particularly fertile area for litigation, she said. And there has been increased litigation over what should and should not be included in the regular rate.
In addition, Johnson said, she is seeing more hybrid class actions, where claims of action are brought under federal and state wage and hour laws. These cases can cause logistical nightmares for the courts, she noted in conference materials, because of the different class certification standards under federal and state law. Federal claims are opt-in while state claims are opt-out. Some courts have refused to permit both federal and state wage and hour claims to proceed on the same issues.
For example, in Daprizio v. Harrah’s Las Vegas Inc., No. 10-80179 (Nov. 3, 2010), the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s dismissal of state wage and hour claims that were part of a hybrid complaint. The district court determined that the state law claims could not proceed because of the tension between the opt-in procedure of a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action and the opt-out procedure of a Rule 23 class action.
However, the 7th Circuit has held that plaintiffs could not be prohibited from bringing an FLSA collective action in the same lawsuit as a state law class action in Ervin v. OS Restaurant Services Inc., No. 09-3029 (Jan. 18, 2011).
Independent Contractor Misclassification
One DOL regulation on the horizon is the right-to-know initiative, which will require employers to do an analysis of all independent contractors and explain to the workers why they are classified that way, David Barron, an attorney with the Houston office of Epstein, Becker and Green, noted. He said the proposed requirement is almost certain to be released during 2011. And as states look for more tax revenue, employers can expect more challenges of independent contractor classifications, he predicted.
A joint Labor-Treasury initiative seeks to identify and deter misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The Wage and Hour Division has 90 new employees focusing on misclassification. And the Solicitor of Labor has 10 new employees to pursue misclassification litigation, including multistate litigation.
Barron recommended annual wage and hour audits as a key way to limit liability.
Stop FMLA Abuse ~ by Paul Falcone
Abuse of intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave unfortunately has become a serious workplace disruption in many organizations. Although well-intentioned, the FMLA’s legal protections have been exploited by an overly aggressive plaintiffs’ bar and workers who sometimes lack the necessary work ethic to meet the day-to-day challenges of the workplace.
Block FMLA leave—when an employee needs to remain out of work for six weeks after surgery, for example—tends to pose few problems. But intermittent FMLA leave too often results from an insidious morale problem where an employee feels entitled to sporadic time off outside of his or her vacation, holiday and personal day benefits.
The matter often goes unaddressed because many supervisors fear engaging in certain discussions about providing written notices regarding the FMLA because of the potential for punitive damages in retaliation cases, as well as the potential for individual liability.When that ugly trend shows up in your department, you need to address the problem head-on via your company’s corrective action and progressive discipline policy.
Taking Action -The most common area of intermittent FMLA leave abuse lies in the failure to provide appropriate medical documentation or to follow the terms of the existing medical certification. In such cases, your corrective action document should spell out the specifics of the problem and paint a detailed picture of the perceived abuse:
“On Oct. 3, you received a verbal warning for incurring five incidents of unscheduled, unauthorized absence on the following dates: Aug. 4, Aug. 30, Sept. 15, Sept. 25, Oct. 3.
“On Oct. 8, you reached your one-year anniversary and became eligible for FMLA leave. On Oct. 9, you initiated an intermittent FMLA leave by providing a doctor’s note authorizing one to four days off per month, which was granted to you.
“In October, you had taken four days off in accordance with your medical certification, and then took off the following two days: Oct. 25, Oct. 30. You would have normally received a written warning for those sixth and seventh occurrences of unauthorized absence, but you informed me that your doctor would amend the terms of your medical certification.
“In November, you took four days off in accordance with your medical certification, and then took off the following two days: Nov. 21, Nov. 30. This would have normally resulted in a final written warning for nine incidents of unauthorized absence. However, you assured me that you would have a doctor’s note authorizing a block FMLA leave within three days.
“In December, you then took off four days in accordance with your medical certification, but then took off another day on Dec. 17. Normally, this 10th incident would have resulted in your termination.
“It now has been almost two months since you stated that you would provide the appropriate medical certification authorizing either extended terms to your current medical certification or a block leave of absence under the FMLA. As a result of your lack of follow-up, this document will serve as a written warning for failure to provide the appropriate medical certification required to avoid corrective action under our company’s attendance control policy. It will likewise serve as an additional written warning for excessive, unauthorized absence.
“In addition, your current intermittent FMLA leave provides for one to four days off per month to attend to your special needs on an intermittent basis. Unless additional time off is warranted by an updated medical certification, we will honor the current medical instructions and will consider any additional, unauthorized time off subject to the company’s progressive discipline policy. Please note that failure to provide immediate and sustained improvement may result in further disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.”
Hold Them Accountable -When an employee fails to follow the terms of his or her medical certification, everyone suffers. You simply cannot run a business not knowing if and when people will take time off outside the terms of their current medical certification. That being said, remember that the Americans with Disabilities Act also may apply to a person taking FMLA leave; therefore, you may be required to determine if the employee is “disabled” under the law and whether your company has an obligation to reasonably accommodate that disability. Hold employees accountable to their current medical certifications and manage these leaves closely. The responsibility for compliance, after all, should lie with your employees and not with you or your company.
Paul Falcone is vice president of human resources at Time Warner Cable

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