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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Officially announcing the release of The Employer Bill of Rights

After a “soft launch” a couple of weeks ago, I am officially announcing the launch of my latest book, The Employer Bill of Rights: A Manager’s Guide to Workplace Law. It is a practical handbook designed to help business owners, managers, supervisors, and human resources professionals navigate the ever-changing maze of labor and employment laws, rules, and regulations. Among other topics, it covers—

  • How to make personnel decisions that will help avoid costly litigation.
  • The who, what, why, when, where, and how of each of the major federal employment discrimination laws.
  • Cutting-edge human resources issues such as wage-and-hour disputes and managing social media in the workplace.
  • How to hire and fire employee without the fear of an expensive lawsuit.
  • How to control operations by implementing legal policies and procedures related to plant shut downs, employee scheduling, work rules, and the maintenance of confidential information.
  • The importance of following the Golden Rule in all personnel matters.

I’m really proud of how the book turned out.

I have a lot of people to thank. Here’s what I wrote in the book’s acknowledgements:

First, I must thank all of my partners at Kohrman Jackson & Krantz and, especially, our managing partner, Marc Krantz, who knows that there exist many ways for a lawyer to market himself or herself. He never hesitated when I suggested that I author a legal blog or write a book (or two), and for his support I am eternally grateful.

Before attending law school, I worked at a few jobs that were less than glamorous. To all of the people who shared those jobs with me, thank you for unknowingly and unwittingly helping me craft my views on the modern workplace.

Thank you to anyone who has ever published anything I have written, quoted me in an article, hosted me on a show, invited me to speak at an event, re-tweeted one of my 140-character thoughts, or linked to my blog. Without each of you, this book would not have occurred.

I thank the wonderful publishing team at Apress—Jeff Olson, Robert Hutchinson, and Rita Fernando—along with the publisher itself. They made the writing process work smoothly, which was essential as I juggled the authoring of this book with my full-time legal practice. They also patiently put up with my less-than-perfect execution of their SharePoint site as we worked though the editorial process.

Thank you to my parents, who taught me the value of education without ever pushing too hard.

Finally, thank you to my family—Colleen, Norah, and Donovan. You put up with my late-night and early-morning blogging and writing. You sometimes suffer in my absence caused by long workdays, late nights, or out-of-town trips. Yet, if I did not know that you are always standing behind me, none of it would be worth it. Thank you for loving me for who I am and supporting me for what I do.

If you want to purchase the book, it’s available in several places and formats:

I have also been told that an iBooks version is coming, although Apple runs a tad behind the others on its approvals.

I cannot think of a better stocking stuffer for that special business owner, manager, supervisor, or HR professional in your life. Amazon will even gift wrap it for you.

If you want to hear me talk about the book, you can tune in tomorrow to Stephanie Thomas’s The Proactive Employer. I’ll be live at 3 pm (and available on-demand thereafter) to discuss why employers need a bill of rights, the areas of greatest legal concern for employers, and how my book can help businesses make informed decisions and hedge against the biggest errors that too often result in expensive and time-consuming lawsuits.