Compensation professionals routinely gather and sometimes share salary data, putting them at risk for violating U.S. antitrust laws. The egregiously obvious wage-fixing deals that get companies in trouble are well documented. But the less obvious red flags like participating in meetings or gatherings where employment and salary decisions are discussed can also put employers at risk for running afoul of antitrust laws. And now these violations may be prosecuted as criminal instead of civil charges.
HR practitioners need to understand what types of activities and behaviors are potentially illegal. This session will educate participants on the DO’s; Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals; and provide strategies for avoiding antitrust pitfalls.
Key takeaways from this session include:
- Identify the boundaries established for benchmarking and participating in and/or using compensation surveys that conform with the regulations.
- Understand the basics of antitrust law.
- Learn the DO’s, position on the ways employers may violate antitrust laws.
- Learn the penalties and risks associated with violations.
- Identify strategies for conducing HR activities with minimal risk of antitrust violations.
Learn how to avoid antitrust pitfalls in your organization. Watch the session today.
Originally recorded on June 18, 2019.
Kim Hodges is the Office Managing Shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Memphis office and has practiced employment law and litigation for over twenty-two years. Prior to joining Ogletree, Kim was Lead Counsel in Federal Express Corporation’s Litigation and Employment group and worked in various roles in the HR departments of ServiceMaster – TruGreen ChemLawn, Trailmobile, and Riceland Foods. In addition to other honors, she is listed in the 2019-2022 editions of Best Lawyers in America, is Memphis SHRM's 2022 Labor & Employment Attorney of the Year, and was a 2018 Honoree in the Memphis Business Journal’s Best of the Bar Awards. Kim also has an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell in both the Peer Review and Judicial Review categories, and is licensed in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
Throughout her 22 years as a litigator, Kim amassed a wealth of employment and commercial litigation experience and defended corporate clients as first-chair counsel in state and federal courts across the United States. She has represented clients in appeals before the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeal and also has experience defending clients in matters before the EEOC, the Department of Labor, and appeals before the Administrative Review Board.
Kim’s experience as both a litigator and an advisor runs the gamut of employment law and related issues, including: all types of employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour, FLSA classification, state and federal disability discrimination and accommodation, public access for disabled individuals, FMLA leave and interference, ADEA, complex contracts, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, trade secrets, whistleblower claims, tort claims, and antitrust/unfair competition.
Kim is a frequent invited speaker and article contributor on employment law and litigation topics for bar associations and professional associations throughout the country.
