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Labor & Employment Challenges in the Hotel & Restaurant Industries (Presented by HospitalityLawyer.com)

Defend hotel and restaurant clients against wage violations, guest safety claims, and emerging workforce risks with practical strategies drawn from 2026’s most pressing hospitality employment disputes.

2026-04-08 12:00:00

1.5 hours

Program Details

2026-04-08 12:00:00

Program Details

2026-04-08 12:00:00

Over 1,000+ webinars

2026-04-08 12:00:00

1.5 hours

Course Overview

Navigate Hospitality's Highest Employment Risks

2026-04-08 12:00:00

Gain practical command of the labor and employment risks confronting hotel and restaurant operators in 2026, including wage and hour exposure, evolving leave mandates, negligent supervision, and guest safety liability and learn how stronger management practices reduce legal exposure.

Format

CLE Credit

1.5h CLE Credits

Level

Intermediate

Length

1.5

Key topics that will be covered

01
Workforce liability
Supervisory and training failures that fuel retaliation, discrimination, and wrongful termination claims.
02
Guest protection
How day-to-day people decisions create foreseeable guest harm and premises liability exposure.
03
TVPRA exposure
Civil liability hotels face when staff fail to act on trafficking red flags.
04
Technology risks
Legal exposure from biometric timekeeping, scheduling platforms, and third-party delivery arrangements.
05
Retaliation defense
Identifying supervisory conduct most likely to generate retaliation and wrongful termination claims.
06
Culture as defense
How operational consistency and workplace culture reduce legal risk and prevent real incidents.

Program schedule

clock 12:00 pm - 12:15 pm EST

Staffing Pressure & Burnout

Chronic understaffing and unrelenting demand have made burnout the defining workforce crisis in hospitality. This segment examines how fatigue, scheduling failures, and staff attrition compound each other and how those pressures translate directly into legal exposure for hotel and restaurant operators

Stephen Barth.Stephen Barth.
Kendall Kelly HaydenKendall Kelly Hayden
Jordan B. SchwartzJordan B. Schwartz
clock 12:15 pm - 12:30 pm EST

Manager Behavior & Culture Risk

Front-line management conduct is among the greatest drivers of hospitality employment litigation. This segment addresses how supervisory behavior, culture failures, and inadequate manager training generate discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims that consistent operational leadership could have prevented.

Stephen Barth.Stephen Barth.
Kendall Kelly HaydenKendall Kelly Hayden
Jordan B. SchwartzJordan B. Schwartz
clock 12:30 pm - 12:45 pm EST

Employee & Guest Safety

Hotels and restaurants carry a dual safety obligation to their workforce and guests. This segment examines how training gaps, supervision failures, and inadequate security protocols create overlapping premises liability and negligence exposure for operators across the hospitality industry.

Stephen Barth.Stephen Barth.
Kendall Kelly HaydenKendall Kelly Hayden
Jordan B. SchwartzJordan B. Schwartz
clock 12:45 pm - 1:00 pm EST

Service Breakdowns & Liability

When service fails in hospitality, legal liability often follows. This segment explores how operational breakdowns, from food and beverage incidents and third-party delivery disputes to negligent supervision and vendor failures, expose hotel and restaurant operators to significant civil claims.

Stephen Barth.Stephen Barth.
Kendall Kelly HaydenKendall Kelly Hayden
Jordan B. SchwartzJordan B. Schwartz
clock 1:10 pm - 1:25 pm EST

Trust, Leave & Retaliation

Expanding leave mandates and eroding employee trust are reshaping hospitality’s legal landscape. This segment covers safety leave, bonding leave, and FMLA intersections and examines how mishandled requests and retaliatory manager responses generate some of the costliest employment disputes operators face.

Stephen Barth.Stephen Barth.
Kendall Kelly HaydenKendall Kelly Hayden
Jordan B. SchwartzJordan B. Schwartz
clock 1:25 pm - 1:40 pm EST

Technology’s Impact on People

Scheduling platforms, biometric timekeeping, and third-party delivery technology have introduced new legal risks into hospitality operations. This segment examines how automation and algorithmic management create wage exposure, misclassification liability, and employee relations challenges attorneys advising hospitality clients must address.

Stephen Barth.Stephen Barth.
Kendall Kelly HaydenKendall Kelly Hayden
Jordan B. SchwartzJordan B. Schwartz
Stephen Barth.

Stephen Barth.

HospitalityLawyer.com®

Kendall Kelly Hayden

Kendall Kelly Hayden

Cozen O’Connor

Jordan B. Schwartz

Jordan B. Schwartz

Conn Maciel Carey LLP

Stephen Barth.

Stephen Barth.

HospitalityLawyer.com®

Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney, the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com, the annual Hospitality Law Conference series, and the Global Travel Risk Summit Series. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. He is #3 on Global Guru’s Top 30 Hospitality Thought Leaders & Influencers for 2023. In addition to legal and travel risk mitigation insight, Stephen specializes in communicating the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership roles; and has provided valuable insight to many companies including The Methodist Hospital System, Wyndham Worldwide, Dine Equity, Business Travel News and Aramark. His fun, fast-paced presentations provide practical information and solutions to enhance your personal and professional life.

Education & Credentials

He earned a B.A. in Economics, an M.A. in Communications, and a J.D. from Texas Tech University. His faculty profile also describes decades of work in hospitality law and leadership education, alongside litigation-support and expert-witness work in hospitality-related matters.

Recognition & Leadership

He has received University of Houston teaching recognition, including the Career Teaching Excellence Award, and other teaching honors noted in his professional materials. He has also been recognized by GlobalGurus in its hospitality rankings, including being listed as the #1 hospitality professional for 2022 and appearing in the 2023 and 2024 lists.

Professional Involvement

His work includes building HospitalityLawyer.com as a platform serving hospitality lawyers and industry leaders with legal, safety, and risk-management resources. He is also associated with industry-facing conferences and summits that convene professionals around hospitality legal risk and travel risk management.

Experience

Across more than three decades at the University of Houston’s Hilton College, his profile notes teaching and speaking activity at significant scale, including thousands of students taught, extensive publishing, and hundreds of industry presentations. His work also includes being retained in litigation contexts and contributing expertise on hospitality-related standards of care and operational risk.
Kendall Kelly Hayden

Kendall Kelly Hayden

Cozen O’Connor

Kendall Kelly Hayden is a Member of Cozen O’Connor’s commercial litigation practice in the firm’s Dallas office, concentrating in transportation and hospitality law, retail, employment matters, professional liability defense, product liability defense, and construction defect matters. She serves as relationship partner for clients across a wide range of legal needs and is positioned to connect clients with appropriate counsel across Cozen O’Connor’s many practice areas. Hayden’s hospitality client representations include international golf management companies, hotels and restaurants, boutique bed and breakfasts, party suppliers, spas, marinas, and country clubs.

Education & Credentials

Hayden earned her J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2003 and her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Texas A&M University in 1999. She is admitted to practice in Texas and before all four U.S. District Courts in Texas, as well as the Texas Supreme Court. During law school, she served as editor-in-chief of the SMU Computer Law Review and Technology Journal. At Texas A&M, she served as president of her junior and senior class.

Recognition & Leadership

Hayden has been recognized as Attorney of the Week by HospitalityLawyer.com on three occasions (2014, 2016, and 2018), named a "Rising Star" in Insurance in 2008 and in Transportation and Maritime Law from 2012 to 2016, and recognized as Dallas Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program in 2012. She was appointed by former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to serve on the inaugural Dallas Mayor's Star Council as one of 25 influential young professionals advising the mayor on city issues. She is an alumna of Leadership University Park and Leadership State Bar of Texas, and was elected in 2009 to serve a two-year term as Director of the Texas Young Lawyers Association board of directors.

Professional Involvement

Hayden is a member of the National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association (NRRDA) an invitation-only organization for private practice attorneys nominated by members of the restaurant or retail industries and a sustainer of the Junior League of Dallas. She is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and holds memberships in the American Bar Association, the Dallas Women's Lawyers Association, and the Texas Young Lawyers Association. She previously served as vice chair, office managing partner, pro bono coordinator, and Women's Initiative co-chair for Cozen O'Connor's Dallas office, as well as former vice-chair of the ABA TIPS Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee and former vice-chair of the Dallas Bar Association's LegalLine Committee.

Experience

Hayden regularly speaks at the annual Hospitality Law Conference and has served as a guest lecturer on legal issues in the hospitality industry at the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College. She has presented numerous times to the Club Management Association of America (CMAA). Her employment experience includes discrimination, sexual harassment, and overtime claims. Her transportation practice encompasses large commercially licensed vehicle operators, armored vehicles, and admiralty and maritime industry clients. She also serves as a mentoring attorney for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program in the area of Consumer Law.
Jordan B. Schwartz

Jordan B. Schwartz

Conn Maciel Carey LLP

Jordan B. Schwartz is a partner specializing in complex employment-related issues and ADA compliance. He defends employers against claims of discrimination, harassment, misappropriation of trade secrets, and wage and hour violations, and counsels on all aspects of the employer-employee relationship.

Experience

Extensive experience in Title III of the ADA representing property owners and managers, conducting on-site inspections, and ensuring website ADA compliance. Defends against Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour claims involving minimum wage, overtime, misclassification, exempt status, meal/rest breaks, and tip pooling. Litigates breach of non-compete agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and trade secret misappropriation. Defends employers in harassment, discrimination, and retaliation cases. Counsels clients on hiring, termination, employment agreements, FMLA issues, employee handbooks, reduction-in-force programs, WARN Act compliance, and drug testing policies including marijuana workplace policies. Conducts training programs on harassment, discrimination, and diversity.
Stephen Barth.

Stephen Barth.

HospitalityLawyer.com®

Stephen Barth, author of Hospitality Law and coauthor of Restaurant Law Basics, is an attorney, the founder of HospitalityLawyer.com, the annual Hospitality Law Conference series, and the Global Travel Risk Summit Series. As a professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, he teaches courses in hospitality law and leadership. He is #3 on Global Guru’s Top 30 Hospitality Thought Leaders & Influencers for 2023. In addition to legal and travel risk mitigation insight, Stephen specializes in communicating the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leadership roles; and has provided valuable insight to many companies including The Methodist Hospital System, Wyndham Worldwide, Dine Equity, Business Travel News and Aramark. His fun, fast-paced presentations provide practical information and solutions to enhance your personal and professional life.

Education & Credentials

He earned a B.A. in Economics, an M.A. in Communications, and a J.D. from Texas Tech University. His faculty profile also describes decades of work in hospitality law and leadership education, alongside litigation-support and expert-witness work in hospitality-related matters.

Recognition & Leadership

He has received University of Houston teaching recognition, including the Career Teaching Excellence Award, and other teaching honors noted in his professional materials. He has also been recognized by GlobalGurus in its hospitality rankings, including being listed as the #1 hospitality professional for 2022 and appearing in the 2023 and 2024 lists.

Professional Involvement

His work includes building HospitalityLawyer.com as a platform serving hospitality lawyers and industry leaders with legal, safety, and risk-management resources. He is also associated with industry-facing conferences and summits that convene professionals around hospitality legal risk and travel risk management.

Experience

Across more than three decades at the University of Houston’s Hilton College, his profile notes teaching and speaking activity at significant scale, including thousands of students taught, extensive publishing, and hundreds of industry presentations. His work also includes being retained in litigation contexts and contributing expertise on hospitality-related standards of care and operational risk.
Kendall Kelly Hayden

Kendall Kelly Hayden

Cozen O’Connor

Kendall Kelly Hayden is a Member of Cozen O’Connor’s commercial litigation practice in the firm’s Dallas office, concentrating in transportation and hospitality law, retail, employment matters, professional liability defense, product liability defense, and construction defect matters. She serves as relationship partner for clients across a wide range of legal needs and is positioned to connect clients with appropriate counsel across Cozen O’Connor’s many practice areas. Hayden’s hospitality client representations include international golf management companies, hotels and restaurants, boutique bed and breakfasts, party suppliers, spas, marinas, and country clubs.

Education & Credentials

Hayden earned her J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2003 and her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Texas A&M University in 1999. She is admitted to practice in Texas and before all four U.S. District Courts in Texas, as well as the Texas Supreme Court. During law school, she served as editor-in-chief of the SMU Computer Law Review and Technology Journal. At Texas A&M, she served as president of her junior and senior class.

Recognition & Leadership

Hayden has been recognized as Attorney of the Week by HospitalityLawyer.com on three occasions (2014, 2016, and 2018), named a "Rising Star" in Insurance in 2008 and in Transportation and Maritime Law from 2012 to 2016, and recognized as Dallas Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program in 2012. She was appointed by former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to serve on the inaugural Dallas Mayor's Star Council as one of 25 influential young professionals advising the mayor on city issues. She is an alumna of Leadership University Park and Leadership State Bar of Texas, and was elected in 2009 to serve a two-year term as Director of the Texas Young Lawyers Association board of directors.

Professional Involvement

Hayden is a member of the National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association (NRRDA) an invitation-only organization for private practice attorneys nominated by members of the restaurant or retail industries and a sustainer of the Junior League of Dallas. She is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and holds memberships in the American Bar Association, the Dallas Women's Lawyers Association, and the Texas Young Lawyers Association. She previously served as vice chair, office managing partner, pro bono coordinator, and Women's Initiative co-chair for Cozen O'Connor's Dallas office, as well as former vice-chair of the ABA TIPS Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee and former vice-chair of the Dallas Bar Association's LegalLine Committee.

Experience

Hayden regularly speaks at the annual Hospitality Law Conference and has served as a guest lecturer on legal issues in the hospitality industry at the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College. She has presented numerous times to the Club Management Association of America (CMAA). Her employment experience includes discrimination, sexual harassment, and overtime claims. Her transportation practice encompasses large commercially licensed vehicle operators, armored vehicles, and admiralty and maritime industry clients. She also serves as a mentoring attorney for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program in the area of Consumer Law.
Jordan B. Schwartz

Jordan B. Schwartz

Conn Maciel Carey LLP

Jordan B. Schwartz is a partner specializing in complex employment-related issues and ADA compliance. He defends employers against claims of discrimination, harassment, misappropriation of trade secrets, and wage and hour violations, and counsels on all aspects of the employer-employee relationship.

Experience

Extensive experience in Title III of the ADA representing property owners and managers, conducting on-site inspections, and ensuring website ADA compliance. Defends against Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour claims involving minimum wage, overtime, misclassification, exempt status, meal/rest breaks, and tip pooling. Litigates breach of non-compete agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and trade secret misappropriation. Defends employers in harassment, discrimination, and retaliation cases. Counsels clients on hiring, termination, employment agreements, FMLA issues, employee handbooks, reduction-in-force programs, WARN Act compliance, and drug testing policies including marijuana workplace policies. Conducts training programs on harassment, discrimination, and diversity.

Credits by state

AK1.5
AL1.5
AR1.5
AZ1.5
CA1.5
CO1.5
CT1.5
DC1.5
DE1.5
FL1.5
GA1.5
HI1.5
IA1.5
ID1.5
IL1.5
IN1.5
KS1.5
KY1.5
LA1.5
MA1.5
MD1.5
ME1.5
MI1.5
MN1.5
MO1.8
MS1.5
MT1.5
NC1.5
ND1.5
NE1.5
NH90.0
NJ1.8
NM1.5
NV1.5
NY1.5
OH1.5
OK2.0
OR1.5
PA1.5
RI2.0
SC1.5
SD1.5
TN1.5
TX1.5
UT1.5
VA1.5
VT1.5
WA1.5
WI1.5
WV1.8
WY1.5

Upcoming Live Online CLE Broadcasts

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Trusted by Legal Professionals

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

70,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

10,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

70,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

MCLE Credits

Alabama
Approved
Alaska
Approved
Arizona
Approved
Arkansas
Approved
California
Approved
Colorado
Pending
Connecticut
Approved
Delaware
Pending
District of Columbia
No Required
Florida
Approved
Georgia
Approved
Hawaii
Approved
Idaho
Pending
Illinois
Approved
Indiana
Pending
Iowa
Pending
Kansas
Pending
Kentucky
Pending
Louisiana
Pending
Maine
Pending
Maryland
No Required
Massachusetts
No Required
Michigan
No Required
Minnesota
Pending
Mississippi
Pending
Missouri
Approved
Montana
Pending
Nebraska
Pending
Nevada
Pending
New Hampshire
Approved
New Jersey
Approved
New Mexico
Approved
New York
Approved
North Carolina
Pending
North Dakota
Approved
Ohio
Approved
Oklahoma
Pending
Oregon
Pending
Pennsylvania
Approved
Rhode Island
Pending
South Carolina
Pending
South Dakota
No Required
Tennessee
Approved
Texas
Approved
Utah
Pending
Vermont
Approved
Virginia
Not Eligible
Washington
Approved
West Virginia
Pending
Wisconsin
Approved
Wyoming
Pending

Alabama

Requirements

The Alabama State Bar MCLE Commission requires attorneys to complete 12 credits, including 1 ethics, by December 31 of each year. All credits must be reported by February 15 of the following year. A maximum of 12 credits, including 1 ethics credit, may be carried over for 1 year only.  

Formats

  • Attorneys can earn unlimited “live” credit through live seminars, live webcasts, and co-sponsored locations with MyLAWCLE-Alabama approved programs
  • Attorneys are limited to 6 credits per compliance period of “online” programs through MyLAwCLE On-Demand programs