April 1998

Employment Practices Hotline - Guidelines

The Employment Practices Hotline service with Fisher & Phillips has been in place now for over a year.  It continues to be used routinely by many CSRMA agencies and has been instrumental on several occasions in circumventing and/or preparing agencies for potential employment lawsuits. 

In order to ensure that the Hotline does not exceed the program usage allocation of one hour per member per month, it is important for member agencies to understand and adhere to these guidelines, as set forth in the June 1997 CSRMA JPA Bulletin.  In summary, the CSRMA Employment Practices Hotline guidelines are:

‰   The Hotline is intended for employment issues that may impact members of the Pooled Liability or Workers' Compensation programs.  Examples include, but not limited to,  harassment, discrimination, and hiring/firing practices.

‰   Each CSRMA member agency may use the Hotline service for up to one (1) hour of free phone consultation per month.  Additional consultation beyond one (1) hour will be billed to the Agency, unless the consultation was based on a topic/issue that all CSRMA agencies can benefit from.  Fisher & Phillips will request approval for extended telephone consultation services from the CSRMA program director prior to offering this extension. 

ˆ   Site visits, lengthy legal reviews and complex document preparations are not covered by the Hotline service.  Members may request this service from Fisher & Phillips, but will bear the cost for those services. 

ˆ   The CSRMA EPL Hotline service is only to be used by CSRMA member agencies who are signatories to the CSRMA Joint Exercise of  Powers Authority.

 

If you have any questions concerning the Employment Practices Hotline service with Fisher & Phillips, please call Lorri McAuliffe at (415)983-5127, or David Forsyth at (415)983-9624.