Greetings, GMA SHRM Members!

September in Wisconsin is hard to beat as students come back to town,  fall sports start up, the landscape
colors start to change, and the firepits and tailgates start again! I hope you’ve enjoyed every minute of summer and that we’ve all had heightened appreciation for the things that mean the most to us as we continue to navigate evolving conditions in our lives!

Connecting with each other seems to be something many of us are craving, and your GMA SHRM Board has
been hard at work planning outstanding programming for the months ahead! While we all love to see familiar faces at in-person events, our virtual conference platform has helped us re-create the networking experiences and connections in a virtual format that are receiving rave reviews!

We hope you will join us for our upcoming Professional Development Summit on September 14th from 8:00am-12:15pm. Session 1 is focused on “Caught in the Web of Conflict: Navigating Workplace Issues and Ways to Appropriately Solve Them,” presented by Claire Hartley and Saveon Grenell of Buelow, Vetter, Buikema, Olson, & Vliet, LLC. Session 2 is focused on Ethics in Human Resources - Case Studies from the Field, presented by Bob Gregg, Attorney at Boardman Clark, Karen Bender, HR Consultant at Hausmann-Johnson Insurance, and Jim Neustadt, an experienced HR Professional recently named our GMA SHRM Volunteer of the Year for his generous service to our chapter. The Professional Development Summits have become a GMA SHRM “fan favorite” as the move to virtual programming has created convenience allowing even more members and guests to take advantage of the educational sessions offered. Check it out! https://www.gmashrm.org/2021-09PDS

Thinking about joining GMA SHRM and want more information about how to get involved? Join us virtually on October 14th from 4:00-5:30pm for the “GMA SHRM Revealed” event and learn more about how to connect with the chapter, maximize the programming and networking benefits, and discover volunteering opportunities to help grow your leadership and HR career skills. https://www.gmashrm.org/2021-Revealed

Other great opportunities include our Meet, Greet, and Eat events and the ever-popular HR Roundtables. https://www.gmashrm.org/2021-MGEs

Announcing a new resource available to you on our website! As a result of member surveys asking for
resources on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, our Diversity Committee has created a DEI resource page to
provide learning materials, recommendations, resources, and tools. https://www.gmashrm.org/DEI  Please feel free to reach out to our Diversity Director, Mary Vesely at mary.vesely@fairwaymc.com  if you have any contributions or suggestions.

Lastly, the WI SHRM State Conference is back this year and will be a hybrid event with both in-person and
virtual experiences. Whether you attend virtually or in-person, there will be a variety of sessions to increase
your HR knowledge, provide credits toward recertification, and create opportunities for networking with other
HR professionals. https://www.wishrm.org/2021-State-Conference

Thank you to our members, guests, and many volunteers who continue to engage in the chapter and see the
value GMA SHRM brings to our local community of HR leaders and professionals!
All the best,

Tracy Nelson, SPHR, CPTD
GMA SHRM Chapter President

Click here to view the full GMA SHRM Board of Directors


 

COVID-19 Resources

Rehiring Injured Employees: Consider Offering Reemployment in Different Positions

Submitted from Brian P. Goodman, GMA SHRM Programming Member, Sarah J. Horner, and Storm B Larson, all Attorneys at Boardman & Clark LLP, a Platinum Sponsor

Brian P. Goodman

Sarah J. Horner Storm Larson

Today, we are discussing the constitutionality of a twelve-foot inflatable rat. We never thought we would be discussing the constitutionality of a twelve- foot inflatable rat in these monthly legal updates, and yet, here we are. In a recent decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that the union practice of installing a sizable inflatable rat outside of stores, factories, and other locales to protest unfair hiring practices is not a violation of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) and was likely protected by the First Amendment. For decades, the inflatable six-to-twenty-five-foot rat with “ferocious” fangs, “glaring” red eyes, and a scaly tail, known as “Scabby,” has been a regular fixture at union protests, sometimes alongside his other large companions, “Fat Cat” and “Greedy Pig.” Scabby is a tool used by unions against business owners who refuse to accede to union demands through the established bargaining process by attempting to draw unwanted negative attention to businesses.

Recently, Scabby nearly faced extermination. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 led a demonstration against MacAllister Machinery, a supply company, over allegations of safety violations with one of their contractors, Lippert Components. Demonstrators installed Scabby at the entrance of a four-day RV Trade Show. The trade show featured Lippert Components and was hosted by one of Lippert’s clients. Opponents of Scabby saw the rat as an example of illegal picketing or coercion against a “neutral” third party, which is prohibited by the NLRA. However, in a three- to-one decision, the NLRB held that displaying the inflatable rat near the entrance of a neutral third party does not “threaten, coerce, or restrain” the neutral employer, and they maintained that Scabby’s presence at the trade show was not responsible for any violence that may have occurred. According to the NLRB, merely persuading individuals is not enough to constitute a threat or coercion. Scabby the Rat was not a disruption, but rather expressive speech within the bounds of First Amendment protection.

Scabby is not scurrying away anywhere anytime soon because litigation surrounding the rat is likely to continue in the court system. In the meantime,  Scabby is prohibited from blocking entrances and exits of businesses, and municipalities might be able to prohibit the display of Scabby through ordinances in certain circumstances.  So,if you find a 12-foot-tall rat outside your place of business, contact legal counsel for advice.

Return to Top

---

Professional Development

Session 1:  Caught in the Web of Conflict: Navigating Workplace Issues and Ways to Appropriately Solve Them

Presented By: 

• Claire Hartley - Buelow, Vetter, Buikema, Olson, & Vliet, LLC.
• Saveon Grenell - Buelow, Vetter, Buikema, Olson, & Vliet, LLC

Participants will learn:   

• How to conduct a proper, fair, and thorough workplace investigation.
• How to properly maintain attorney-client privilege and confidentiality throughout an investigation.
• How to identify conflicts in the workplace and properly diffuse them as they arise.

Session 2:  Ethics in Human Resources - Case Studies from the Field

Participants will learn:

• Brief review of the SHRM Code of Ethics.
• Options when faced with an ethical challenge.
• Legal aspects of decision making.

 

GMA SHRM welcomes the following members who joined our chapter in July 2021!

Mandy	Andraska		Moxe Health
Nicole	Duppler	SHRM-CP	Capital Newspapers
Emily	Edelman		The Perk
Rebecca	Kraemer		WPPI Energy
Dean	Nemecek		Wisconsin Army National Guard
Steph	Richter		The Perk
Leah	Roe		The Perk
Jeffery	Sommers	CSP	Remedy Intelligent Staffing
Dawn	Weber		Sergenian's Floor Coverings
Wendy	Zimmerman	SHRM-CP	SVA Certified Public Accountants, S.C.

Return to Top

---

 

Member Awards and Recognition

Have you recently earned a professional achievement award? If so, we want to hear about it. 
If so, we want to hear about it. Send us an e-mail, and we’ll publish your good news in the next HR InTouch!  

Return to Top

 

---

In Transition

If you are a member who is in between jobs, or who is currently employed but seeking new positions or career paths, write us a brief description of your skill set, areas of expertise, what you’re looking for, etc. Send us an e-mail. We’ll publish your information in the next HR InTouch.

Return to Top 

 

---

HR InTouch Guidelines

Article Writing:

Do you have an interest in writing for the HR InTouch? We have an interest in learning more about your area of expertise!

Why should you volunteer? Top three reasons: 1) to share your knowledge and experiences to educate others; 2) to become more connected in the HR and Dane County communities; and 3) to contribute towards the advancement of GMA SHRM and the HR profession.

The first step is for you to choose a submission option: you can pre-submit an article to GMA SHRM at any time for us to use in any of the upcoming newsletters, you can sign up to write for a particular month, or we can put you on a list of people to contact in future months whenever we need articles.

Article length:

Because the HR InTouch is now in an online format, the size is flexible. The article should be engaging and hold readers’ attention. Include the core information in your article, and we will advise if it is too lengthy.

Solicitation:

GMA SHRM is conscious not to allow solicitation through the articles, in an effort to protect the interests of our partners and members. The nature of the article should be educational (i.e., what are the business advantages of having a product like yours) or informational. Otherwise, if you truly are interested in advertising through the HR InTouch, you can work with our Marketing Committee. As a rule of thumb for article writing, if the submission relates to a for-profit event, or specifically markets your company (vs. your industry), it is an advertisement, and should be purchased. If it is a not-for-profit event that your company is hosting, or an announcement (i.e., a SHRM member recently joined your company), it is an acceptable addition to the HR InTouch content. If you have any questions related to the appropriateness of your submission, please contact us.

If you have questions, or to submit an article, contact GMA SHRM at chapteradmin@gmashrm.org .