The Madison Washington, D.C.
1177 15th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
Aaron Holt and Jim Sullivan will be speaking at the American Bar Association section of the labor & employment law national symposium on technology in labor and employment law.
Aaron will be moderating "Think Before You Tweet: The Impact of Political Speech on Social Media in the Workplace." 2020 and 2021 have been years unlike any other in recent, possibly even living, memory. Between a global pandemic, a wild election cycle culminating in a political battle over the nation’s fundamental democratic principles, and a reinvigorated call to action over systemic racial injustice and gender inequality, Americans have a lot to say. And they are taking to social media to say it. What happens when the lines between personal expression and professionalism start to blur and bleed into the workplace? Should employers regulate their employees’ political activities on social media and other public online forums? What if those activities lead to workplace conflict or otherwise impact the work environment? What laws protect employee political speech, and are those laws at all in conflict with other relevant statutory schemes? This panel will explore these questions and others that have arisen during this formative moment in the nation’s history.
Jim will be apart of the panel for "Workplace Reopening, Vaccines and Technology." As federal, state and local governments have enacted COVID-19 vaccine requirements, many employers are turning to technology to track employee compliance. This can include specially-designed apps downloaded onto employee smartphones, uploading vaccination cards through an HR portal, the collection of paper attestations, or other forms of vaccine verification. For employers, employees, and labor unions, such tracking raises potential privacy, regulatory compliance, discrimination, data breach/storage, surveillance, bargaining and other return-to-work considerations. This panel will discuss these considerations as well as offer best practices when implementing vaccine tracking, related technology and return-to-work policies in the workplace.