Learning Objectives:

• Understand and learn how to apply Massachusetts’ new pay transparency requirements when they go into effect later this year
  
• Consider the HR and legal lessons from a recent viral workplace incident (“Coldplaygate”) to improve internal compliance with important personnel policies and reduce legal and reputational risks
  
• Learn about recent DOJ guidance on DEI programs to recognize potentially unlawful practices and ensure compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws
  
• Evaluate recent Supreme Court rulings to update workplace policies, maintain HR compliance, and protect organizational and employee rights
  
• Identify legal and ethical issues related to the use of AI in the workplace to better manage hiring, performance management, and personnel decisions

From the moment Attorney Erica E. Flores learned how to read, she wanted to be a writer. Growing up in the golden hills of Northern California, she would sit under the live oak trees and devour any book she could get her hands on. This love of reading and writing (and skiing) led Erica to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned a degree in print journalism. But after landing her first job as a reporter for a local newspaper, Erica quickly realized that she wanted to do more than just report what was happening in the world around her—she wanted to use her love for reading and writing to help people solve problems.  So after just over a year, Erica enrolled in law school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She knew right away that she made the right decision.

After receiving her law degree, Erica clerked for Justice Russell Nigro of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and then worked for prominent international law firms in New York City and Philadelphia, where she began practicing employment law.  She has been representing employers ever since, helping them achieve and maintain compliance with the many state and federal employment laws and regulations, navigate challenging personnel issues, and resolve disputes with current and former employees, both in and out of court.

Erica moved to western Massachusetts with her wife in 2013, and since then, she has had the privilege of living and working among the many businesses she advises and defends every day.  She is honored to be able to call them not just her clients, but respected colleagues and even friends.

Erica has been an invited speaker at educational events sponsored by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, the Employers Association of the North East, the CMEA Employers Association and other organizations, and has been published in BusinessWest, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and the Massachusetts Bar Association’s prestigious Massachusetts Law Review.  She is also an editor of, and regular contributor to, BLR’s New England Employment Law Letter, and volunteers her time as President of the Board of Directors of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

Recertification Provider(s):

HRMA of Western New England is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP^sm or SHRM-SCP^sm. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit www.shrmcertification.org. This program has been approved for 1.25 SHRM PDC recertification credits.

The use of this official seal confirms that this Activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval. This Program has been pre-approved for 1.25 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR®, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

 
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