Webinar Recap: Navigating Familiar Legal Issues in an Unfamiliar Time

With a year of COVID-19 now under our belts, a new Commander-in-Chief in the White House (one who says he plans to be “the strongest labor president you have ever had”), and a new party in the Congress majority, it won’t take a crystal ball to foretell that there will be a lot of law changes for your business to navigate in the near future.

On Thursday, March 25, Alexis Knapp—a labor and employment attorney at the Littler law firm in Houston—presented the G&A Partners webinar, “2021 Employment Law Update: Navigating Familiar Legal Issues in an Unfamiliar Time.” She spent the hour giving employers a fresh look at what to expect for the first 100 days President Joe Biden is in office and what ripple effects new legislation and a Democratic-leaning government will have on small to mid-sized businesses within the next six months to a year.

No matter which side of the political aisle you may land, Knapp says it’s important that you “don’t panic” while she goes over what each of the new laws under consideration by Congress might mean to your organization in the webinar.

“The purpose of a presentation like this is to just fill your radar with things that are going on that you should pay attention to,” she says. “You really need to focus on the things you can actually do now and what you know for sure now.”

Some things she suggests you can do right now to prepare for the year ahead include:

• Determine your organization’s view on vaccines and decide what you want to do about it (or not do).
• Decide whether you are ready to welcome people back to the office.
• Determine whether you’ve got people who will need accommodations should they be required to return to the office space.
• Think about whether your wage-and-hour practices are shored up.
• Prepare your team for an eventuality that could include unionizing. “Union organizing is likely going to increase,” Knapp says.
• Make sure your COVID-19 protocols are defensible and that they are working, especially as you bring people back to work. “Make sure you’re being diligent about that until this mess has finally calmed down,” she recommends.
• Evaluate your policies and processes for things you know need work and then start the work on them.
• Keep in close contact with G&A Partners and your legal counsel, who can help you remain compliant and who are here to help you work through any sticky situations.

Knapp peppered invaluable advice on each of the actions listed above throughout her webinar. Don’t miss this opportunity to get a head start on preparing your leadership team for the new legal landscape ahead. Download the slides and take notes while you watch the webinar—this is one glimpse into the future you don’t want to miss.