Navigating the Outbreak: An Eight Part Webinar Series on the Factors that Construction Companies Need to Consider, as They Strive for Business Continuity

Monday, March 23 - Wednesday, April 1, 2020

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EDT

What You Want, When You Want - Recordings will be made available to all registrants for each part of the series. In the event you miss a program or registered in the middle, you will get access to the full series recordings.

Registration for single sessions is not available. For Members - information on how to access member pricing can be found at the bottom of this page 

Monday, March 23, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part I: Your Federal and State Legal Obligations to Provide Paid and/or Unpaid Leave to Your Employees 

This webinar will cover both the old and the new federal requirements for paid leave, and generically, the state and local laws that the outbreak could also require you to consider. Along the way, the speakers will identify and explain the scope and nature of the many legal requirements for both paid and unpaid leave. Among other things, you will learn about the recently passed legislation requiring emergency paid sick and FMLA leave for those affected by the outbreak. The speakers will also identify what many consider best practices for helping employees remain focused and productive.


Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part II: What the Federal and Many State Labor and Employment Laws Are Likely to Require of You, as You Adjust Your Operations to Meet the Latest Contingencies?

This webinar will begin with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and generically, the state and local laws that the outbreak could also require you to consider. The bottom line is that these labor and employment laws create rights and obligations that could come into play in unexpected ways. And the leading construction companies are already going above and beyond the law, as they look for ways to help their employees help them weather the storm.


Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part III: The Contractual and Related Legal Protections and Risks for Construction Companies 

Whether you are legally responsible for losses that attend the outbreak, or entitled to relief from them, will largely depend on three things: the terms and conditions of your construction contract, the surrounding body of construction law – and what you do right now. This webinar will identify the facts that you need to establish in order to qualify for the relief that a typical force majeure clause will provide. Along the way, the speakers will also underscore importance of giving prompt written notice to owners and taking the steps necessary to mitigate the impact of the outbreak.

You will also learn how to give timely notice and still retain the flexibility to respond to rapidly changing events, and how owners are likely to treat claims for additional time, money or both, including claims for extended home office overhead or acceleration. You will also learn about the practical strategies that companies are implementing and the proactive steps they are taking to deal with potential price escalations.


Thursday, March 26, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part IV: How to Protect Your People and Your Projects 

Are you doing enough to mitigate the risk that COVID-19 will infect the people working either in your home office or on your jobsites – including the risk for the many people working for your subcontractors? What are the practices that you should require of all of your employees? What should you require more specifically of the people working in the field? In each case, how much protection is enough? The speakers will address the standard of care that the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and perhaps the common law, require you to meet. The speakers will also provide practical guidance on the best practices for protecting your people and your projects. They will cover everything from preventative measures to protocols and procedures for responding to confirmed cases of COVID-19.


Friday, March 27, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part V: The Components of a Comprehensive Project Continuity Plan

This webinar will begin with a survey of the many ways that the outbreak could disrupt or delay a project. The speakers will also suggest response action plans for each of these contingencies, such as an owner or government order to shut the project down, or a general workforce shortage, a report that a worker has tested positive for the new coronavirus, or delays in the delivery of materials. Along the way, the speakers will also suggest practical strategies for limiting access to a site, to the extent feasible. The goal is to goal is to help you minimize both the risk of a shutdown or other delay, and the duration of any shut down or other delay that becomes unavoidable.


Monday, March 30, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part VI: Insurance Coverage and Claims for Losses Resulting from the Outbreak 

This webinar will explore the many potential sources of insurance coverage for business interruption or other losses that may result from the outbreak, including property insurance policies, environmental or pollution policies, commercial general liability policies and workers compensation. The speakers will also discuss the steps to take to preserve and protect your rights to insurance coverage under various scenarios, including key factors to consider and the documentation that an insurance carrier is likely to require, particularly for the costs of delays. As the speakers will also explain, contractors should carefully measure and record all of the financial impacts that the outbreak has on their projects and the rest of their businesses, without regard to insurance coverage, as there may also be other sources of recovery, such as federal or state grants and loans).


Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part VII: The Additional Pressure that the Outbreak Could be Putting on Your Information Technology 
In response to the outbreak, many companies are encouraging if not requiring their employees to work from home, and many for the first time. This creates new issues and strains on both your information systems, processes, and staff. Do you have the right systems in place? Are your policies helping or hindering remote work? Is your staff trained on the technology tools they need? What about on staying productive?  What new challenges to information security this operational change brings? Join us on this session to review key technological and human factors and learn about what other companies are doing.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Navigating the Outbreak, Part VIII: What You Need to Watch, as the Outbreak Continues to Unfold 

This webinar will begin with the economic outlook for the construction industry over the coming weeks and months. The speakers will then identify the leading economic indicators that you should be watching carefully. How much is the construction industry likely to contract and how quickly is it likely to recover? What will be the signs that things continue to get worse – or that they are getting better? And how are Congress, the President and the rest of the federal government likely to respond to the latest developments? What are the next steps that any or all of them are contemplating? Come listen, learn and prepare for the road the lies ahead.