American Society for Health Care Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) Annual Conference: Buttons, Scrubs, and Social Media: Regulating Employee Expression that Affects the Workplace

As the longest-running event for healthcare HR professionals, the ASHHRA annual conference and exposition convenes attendees from all over the country, across the continuum of care. Expect dynamic keynote speakers, innovative breakout sessions, engaging networking activities and a variety of opportunities to make lifelong connections. Michael Bertoncini, Principal at Jackson Lewis P.C., is pleased to present.

Today’s workforce is increasingly active on social media and is more comfortable sharing their views on politics and other issues in the workplace than in the past. These expressions of opinion often make their way into the workplace in the form of slogans on buttons or scrubs or through employee discussions about online activity. There are competing state and federal laws that on the one hand protect some employee speech and on the other require employers to prevent employee speech that creates a hostile work environment. This session will explore steps healthcare employers can take to prevent or mitigate workplace tension and potential liability associated with these forms of expression.

OBJECTIVES

• Learn about the parameters of state and federal laws protecting employee speech.
• Review the elements of effective workplace policies addressing employee speech, including speech in the form of buttons and messages on clothing.
• Hear practical advice for addressing employee speech inside and outside the workplace that offends co-workers.