Background
This is a continuation of the facts presented in Scenarios One and Two. If necessary, review Scenarios One and Two before beginning Scenario Three. In Scenario One, you assumed the role of assistant manager of Human Resources (HR) for a regional office of Cost Club. Your first assignment was to handle some important issues that were presented in five messages that your boss, Pat (whose last name is the same as your course facilitator), forwarded to you. In Scenario Two, you were assigned the difficult task of downsizing the regional HR department from eight nonmanagement employees to five, along with providing supporting information to Pat.
In Scenario Three, you are still assistant manager of Human Resources for this regional office of Cost Club.
Briefing the Senior Regional Staff
Your boss, Pat, sends you this e-mail that defines your new assignment:
Briefing the Senior Regional Staff
As you know, we will have the semi-annual senior staff conference shortly, and the HR department is tasked with conducting a number of seminars at this high-level, high-visibility conference. I’d like you to lead the preparation for our session on Statutory Regulation of Employment.
There are five key regulatory areas that I want you to focus on:
1. Employee Privacy
2. Employee Unions
3. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
4. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
5. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
With the exception of issues involving unions, these regulated activities deal with employer obligations that are a matter of law; for example, whether we like it or not, we have to live with FLSA. Most of these laws do not dictate how we deal with employees, with the exception of unions. The laws, however, do create a duty directly between us and the government.
What I need you to do is prepare an outline for me to hand out at the session that