Expo focuses on work/life issues

The first annual Work/Life and Flexibility Expo will be held Thursday at the Ramada Plaza on Industrial Boulevard in Minneapolis. View a schedule and registration information.

One of the panel discussions, titled "No Worker Left Behind," will discuss work-life and flexibility programs for non-exempt and union employees. The panel includes noted author Joan Williams, author of One Sick Child Away from Being Fired; Anne Nolan, who has led workshops on unions and flexibility for the Labor Education Service and the recent Teamster Women\’s conference in Minneapolis; and Lora Geiger, human resources director of manufacturer TURCK, Inc. in Plymouth.

Subjects to be covered in other panel discussions include the Millennial generation; proven practices for managing flexibility; technology trends; leadership; capturing the ROI of workplace flexibility and more.

Williams will also be delivering an afternoon keynote address discussing her new book, Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter. Williams is distinguished professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, directs the U.C. Hastings Center for Work-Life Law, and is the nation\’s leading expert on employment discrimination against workers based on their family caregiving responsibilities.

Seventeen Twin Cities employers will be honored at the event for their success in implementing workplace flexibility. Receiving crystal Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility will be Carlson, Deloitte, Dorsey & Whitney, Ernst & Young, Health Dimensions Group, KPMG, Mahoney Ulbrich, Christiansen & Russ, McGladrey, MRM Minneapolis, Spanlink Communications and Western National Mutual Insurance Co.