Isaac Mamaysky

The pandemic upended the workplace as we know it. Employment experts widely speculate that certain industries have fast-forwarded in the direction of working remotely by decades. If the future of work for many employees is primarily virtual, what challenges does this entail for employers? What new rights might employees have? While analyzing these and related questions, this session explores the arguments for and against remote work. It goes on to argue that the “hybrid workplace,” in which more people work from home more of the time, is our likely future. We consider the new challenges this raises for employers and the new rights gained by employees. The talk concludes by arguing that giving employees choice about their work location is a mechanism for employers to avoid potential liability while boosting workplace morale and increasing productivity; creating a win-win for employees and employers alike.

This session provides a big-picture overview of the field of ethics and compliance. It begins by exploring the historical milestones of ethics and compliance to establish the context and legal foundation of modern ethics and compliance practice. We go on to discuss the role of ethics and compliance teams in today’s companies, and the interplay of ethics and compliance, the general counsel’s office, and the human resources department. We then explore the critical function of the code of conduct in an effective ethics and compliance program, from which point we examine the importance of training and role modeling to achieving an ethical culture. We conclude by discussing internal investigations and whistleblowers.

We begin with the premise that the happiest and most fulfilled employees are those who live a life of meaning and purpose. While many have achieved this goal, many others are unsatisfied with their career trajectories but feel, for a variety of reasons, that they aren’t empowered to make a change. This talk argues that it’s not just possible—but, for many employees, should be the goal—to merge personal and professional interests to achieve a career filled with meaning and purpose.