When the seasons change, you prepare for the rough weather ahead. When government regulations change, your business needs to be prepared to adapt as well.

Please join the newest partners to our Boston office, Jim Nicholas and Don Schroeder, together with associate Erin Horton, as they give us a fresh perspective on the changing legal landscape of labor and employment. Focusing specifically on issues in the state of Massachusetts and the New England area as a whole, this breakfast briefing seeks to bring you up to speed on the latest trends and upcoming deadlines affecting your employees and HR department.

Topics will include:

• Discussion of the Defend Trade Secret Act’s immunity provisions and the statute’s impact on the drafting and use of restrictive covenants, employment agreements, and confidentiality policies

• Exploration of the effect of the new FLSA White Collar Exemption Regulations, which go into effect on December 1, 2016, impacting your ability to treat certain salaried employees as exempt

• Review of the new Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, scheduled to go into effect in 2018, and the changes that employers should consider to ensure that their hiring and background check practices comply with the statute prior to its effective date