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Ground Rules: Employment Law Over Your Coffee Break
Hosted by seasoned attorney Pam Howland, alongside attorneys Jennifer Walrath and Doug Plass, Ground Rules delivers employment law insights in bite-sized weekly episodes. With decades of courtroom experience, this dynamic trio has seen the costly consequences of legal missteps for employers—and they're here to help you avoid them.
Perfect for business owners, HR professionals, and supervisors, this podcast is your go-to guide for staying ahead of the curve on employment law, fostering compliant workplaces, and keeping your business out of the courthouse. Grab your coffee, tune in, and gain practical tips to protect and empower your team.
Episodes
69 episodes
Avoiding Lawsuits in 2026: The Top 5 Issues Employers Can’t Ignore
What are the biggest employment law risks employers should be paying attention to in 2026?In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Megan Egbert break down the top five issues they believe every employer, HR pro...
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Idaho’s New Bathroom Bill: What Employers Need to Know Before July 2026
A new Idaho law is creating big questions for employers ahead of its July 2026 effective date. In this episode of Ground Rules, attorneys Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Idaho legislator Megan Egbert break down Idaho’s new “Bathroom...
Documentation Isn’t Optional: Protecting Your Business Before It’s Too Late
In this week's Ground Rules episode, we continue our Law for Leaders Book Club with Chapter Three: Why You Need to Document and What Your Documentation Needs to Say.Here's what we cover:Why a lack of documentation leaves a vo...
Deepfake Harassment: The New Workplace Risk Employers Can’t Ignore
AI is changing the workplace—and not always for the better. In this episode, we break down the emerging issue of deepfake harassment, including realistic fake images, audio, and video being used in ways that can create a hostile work environmen...
What the 2025 IHRC Data Tells Us
The Idaho Human Rights Commission saw a major increase in filings this year—but the story doesn’t end there.We’re joined by Ben Earwicker, Administrator of the IHRC, to dive into the 2025 IHRC statistics and trends, including what’s driv...
L4L Book Club: Keeping Business Secrets Safe
What happens when an employee leaves—and you suspect they took more than just their experience with them? In this episode, we build on Chapter 15 of Law for Leaders and unpack the growing number of claims involving stolen confidential ...
If You Can’t Spot It, You Can’t Fix It
Most workplace claims don’t start with bad intent—they start with missed signals. In this episode, we discuss why issue-spotting is one of the most critical skills for supervisors, how gaps in training create risk, and what it takes to recogniz...
The EEOC’s Early 2026 Enforcement Trends
In this episode of Ground Rules: Employment Law Over Your Coffee Break, Pam, Doug, and Jen discuss what they’re seeing from the EEOC in the first few months of 2026. Reviewing recent lawsuits, settlements, and agency announcements, the...
The Employment Law Risks Public Employers Face
This week on Ground Rules, Pam, Doug, and Jen welcome back former Idaho Employment Lawyers attorney Ben Cramer, now serving as a civil deputy prosecuting attorney for Canyon County. Ben shares what employment law looks like from the pu...
2026 Legislative Update: What Idaho Employers Should Be Watching Right Now
In this episode, we are joined by IEL attorney and Idaho State Representative Megan Egbert to discuss proposed legislation from the 2026 session that could impact employers across the state. We cover bills involving public accommodation liabili...
The First 24 Hours After a Workplace Complaint
When an employee complaint comes in, the first 24 hours can shape everything that follows. In this episode, Pam Howland, Doug Plass, and Jennifer Walrath walk through the critical early steps employers should take—from acknowledging the complai...
L4L Book Club: What At-Will Really Means
In this episode of Ground Rules, we continue our Law for Leaders book club with Chapter Two: At-Will Employment.What does “at-will” really mean—and what does it not mean? The team breaks down common misc...
Allergens at Work: When It’s an ADA Issue (Not Just an Annoyance)
What happens when something in the workplace—like perfume, dogs, or even food allergens—triggers a serious medical reaction for an employee? In this episode, Pam Howland, Jennifer Walrath, and Doug Plass talk through how employers should approa...
What to Do When You Get an IHRC or EEOC Claim
An IHRC complaint is one of those things that can make an employer’s stomach drop. But what you do next matters—a lot.In this episode, Pam Howland is joined by Doug Plass and Jennifer Walrath to talk through how employers should respond ...
The EEOC Rescinded Its 2024 Harassment Guidance—Here’s What Employers Need to Know
On January 22, 2026, the EEOC rescinded its 2024 harassment guidance—an update many employers and attorneys viewed as a long-overdue, practical resource. In this episode, Pam Howland and Jennifer Walrath break down what EEOC guidance is, what t...
The 2026 Handbook Refresh: AI, Social Media, PWFA & More
Employment handbooks may not be exciting—but they remain one of the most effective tools employers have to prevent claims and defend against liability. In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam Howland and Doug Plass break down why 2026 is ...
L4L Book Club: Why Supervisor Training Isn’t Optional
In this Law for Leaders Book Club episode, the attorneys at Idaho Employment Lawyers break down why supervisor training is one of the most effective ways to prevent workplace claims. Supervisors make daily decisions that can expose employers to...
The Ames Case and Its Impact on Employers
In this episode of Ground Rules: Employment Law Over Your Coffee Break, Pam Howland, Doug Plass, and Jennifer Walrath break down the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services and what...
Employment Law in 2026: What Employers Need to Be Watching Now
2026 is already shaping up to be a year of significant change in employment law. In this episode of Ground Rules, our attorneys break down the key trends emerging from 2025 and what they signal for employers moving forward — including ...
What One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) Means for Employers
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OB3), signed into law in 2025, includes changes that could impact employers in 2026 — even though it isn’t traditionally viewed as employment legislation.In this episode of Ground Rules: Employment Law O...
Holiday Parties & Hidden Legal Risks
Holiday parties are meant to boost morale—not create legal problems. But every year, employers find themselves dealing with harassment complaints, wage and hour surprises, and liability issues they didn’t see coming.In this episode of
New EEOC Guidance: Anti-American National Origin Discrimination
In this episode, Pam, Doug, and Jennifer walk through the EEOC’s newly released technical assistance bulletin addressing national origin discrimination. The team highlights why the bulletin matters, how it fits into broader enforcement trends, ...
The Truth About Trials: Unpredictability, Cost, and Why to Stay Out of Court
In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam and Jennifer pull back the curtain on what it’s really like to take an employment case to trial. Fresh off a seven-day jury trial, they break down the unpredictability, cost, and intense pressure th...
FMLA 101: What Every Employer Needs to Get Right
In this episode of Ground Rules, Pam, Jennifer, and Megan take a practical, employer-focused look at one of the most frequently used — and frequently misunderstood — workplace laws: the Family and Medical Leave Act.Megan shares ...
How Emotional Intelligence Protects Your Organization
In this episode of Ground Rules: Employment Law Over Your Coffee Break, Pam, Jennifer, and Doug sit down with keynote speaker and executive coach Michelle Choate to explore how emotional intelligence (EQ) directly shapes compliance, cu...