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Date: November 15, 2011 at 7:30am

Topic: "Employment issues in a down economy:
The possible pitfalls of independent contractors, interns, temporary help, and more"

Speaker: Samantha Halem, Partner of Marshall Halem

Place: Brier & Geurden, LLP, 160 Gould Street, Ste 320, Needham, MA - Host: Rob Geurden (Map)

Interns, temporary workers, summer help, independent contractors and virtual assistants: which hires can get you and your clients in trouble, and how?

With the shrinking economy, a growing number of businesses (attorneys included) have looked to creative alternatives to the traditional employee/employer relationship. Massachusetts and Federal Law make venturing into these relationships dangerous. One wrong turn and you could be liable for treble damages and attorneys’ fees.

The discussion will include:

- When is an employer’s hire of an intern a violation of wage and hour laws?
- When can a new hire be paid as an independent contractor?
- When is it OK to not check for a hire’s citizenship or green card/work permit status?
- When and how does an employer need to report a new hire to agencies in Massachusetts?

We will talk about how you can and cannot structure these creative hire relationships. Areas of discussion will include the overlap of the Massachusetts’ independent contractor law with unemployment and worker’s compensation, and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Attorney Samantha C. Halem of the firm of Marshall Halem in Wellesley, MA will help us to assess these issues. Ms. Halem practices exclusively employment law and employment litigation, representing businesses. After receiving her B.A. from Stanford University, Ms. Halem went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School, cum laude. Ms. Halem has worked as an associate in the labor and employment departments of both the Los Angeles law firm of O’Melveny & Myers and the Boston law firm of Goodwin Procter. She is a member of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and California bars.

**Thanks to all members of the BLN Steering Committee, for organizing and hosting this meeting!

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