HR Legal Lab

Harter Secrest & Emery is proud to partner with The National Human Resources Association (NHRA), Rochester Affiliate, to offer a one-of-a-kind, half-day, interactive learning experience: HR Legal Lab. This one-of-a-kind, interactive learning experience brings HR professionals together with top labor and employment attorneys for a series of dynamic, workshop-style sessions designed to strengthen real-world skills and legal awareness across critical HR functions.

Participants will rank their top two choices from four hands-on sessions, each led by legal experts and designed around real-world case studies, real-time simulations, and collaborative discussion. While we will do our best to accommodate your preferences, final session assignments will be based on availability.

The topics for 2026 are:

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (and Politics and Religion) at Work
Investigator’s Workshop Part II: Advanced Workplace Investigations
Managing the Managers: Preventing Risk Through Better Leadership
Mental Health at Work: Navigating Accommodation and Leave Challenges

View the full session descriptions and our speakers below.

Whether you’re sharpening your compliance expertise, strengthening your investigation skills, or navigating complex legal issues in today’s volatile environment, this HR Legal Lab delivers high impact, practical training led by respected legal professionals – and gives you the chance to elevate your people operations playbook in a collaborative, real world setting.

This program is under review for Professional Development Credits (PDCs) by the Society for Human Resource Management and HR (General) recertification credit hours through HR Certification Institute (HRCI).

Itinerary:

7:30 – 8:10 AM: Registration / Breakfast
8:10 – 8:30 AM: Kickoff & Legal Landscape Updates
8:30 – 10:00 AM: Session One
10:00 – 10:15 AM: Network with Sponsors / Break
10:15 – 11:45 AM: Session Two
11:45 – 12:00 PM: Wrap Up

Available Sessions:

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (and Politics and Religion) at Work

Today’s workplace is more complex than ever, with employee conduct issues often intersecting with personal beliefs, social media activity, substance use, political expression, and protected rights. Through real-world scenarios and group discussion, participants will explore where employers can draw the line, how to navigate competing workplace interests, and strategies for responding to sensitive situations consistently and legally. This interactive session will help HR professionals balance employee rights, workplace culture, and organizational risk in an increasingly polarized environment.

Speakers

Managing the Managers: Preventing Risk Through Better Leadership

Managers make countless employment decisions every day, and one poor decision can create significant legal and employee relations challenges…and make HR professionals’ lives miserable. In this interactive workshop, participants will examine common management missteps and how you, as an HR professional, can better train, coach, and support managers in making sound decisions that reduce risk, improve consistency, and strengthen workplace culture.

Speakers

Investigator’s Workshop Part II: Advanced Workplace Investigations

Ready to take your investigation skills to the next level? Building on the foundation of last years popular investigations workshop, this session will challenge participants with new and complex scenarios involving credibility determinations, conflicting witness accounts, anonymous complaints, and difficult documentation issues. Through guided exercises and collaborative problem-solving, attendees will sharpen their investigative instincts and gain practical tools for handling the gray areas that often arise in workplace investigations.

*Participation in last year’s session is not a pre-requisite.

Speakers

Mental Health at Work: Navigating Accommodation and Leave Challenges

As employers see increasing requests related to anxiety, depression, stress, PTSD, and other mental health conditions, HR professionals must navigate complex legal obligations while supporting employee well-being. Using realistic workplace scenarios, this session will explore reasonable accommodations, the interactive process, leave considerations, performance concerns, and common compliance pitfalls under the ADA and other applicable laws. Participants will leave with practical strategies for addressing mental health issues confidently, compassionately, and in compliance with the law.