I just returned (and yes, detoxed) from the Cornell HR in Hospitality Conference in Las Vegas.

I presented on wage-and-hour issues at the FLSA Unconference, and participated in a roundtable where attendees were able to “ask the attorney” all of their burning legal questions.  I also attended a bunch of terrific sessions to gain insight into the most salient topics facing hospitality employers in 2019.

Here are some take-aways that I found particularly meaningful (and helpful), so I thought I would share:

• Recruiting and retention are big issues everywhere; one progressive company markets to prospective employees by sending them brand-based messages and gifts periodically (such as a donation to an environmental cause on their behalf in celebration of Earth Day)
• Another innovative company has the following questions on its career page: Don’t see a position you are interested in? We always want to meet new talent. Contact us at XXX to let us know why we should meet.
• We used to tell employees in harassment prevention training that there is no such thing as “free speech” at work; well that also works as way to address polarizing political discourse
• In this day of cell phone recordings, managers and employees often suspect they are being secretly recorded; a good way to address that at a meeting is to say “I am not recording this conversation, are you?” – if the employee lies and records anyway, at least you have them on tape lying
• Just because you may not have a “light duty” program for workers’ compensation, doesn’t mean that you get out of your duty to engage in the interactive process
• Use your guest WiFi password as an opportunity to reinforce your brand; for example, our firm’s entertainment group is branded as “Entertainment Law. Coast to Coast” – so a password could be “coasttocoast”
• Sexual harassment settlements are no longer tax deductible; but one option is to apportion part of the settlement to harassment based claims and deduct the rest

Next year the Conference is in Miami (April 26-29^th).  Hope to see you there!

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