Episode 7

Working Caregivers and the Changing Nature of Employment Law with Jamie Dokovna

Everyone is affected by employment law, either as an employee or as an employer. In Episode Seven of Caregiver Camp Podcast, Jamie Dokovna, an employment law specialist, discusses employment law issues in the current reality of the Covid-19 pandemic. For many of us, it has reinforced that people do not have the same situations, and that lives can be very complicated. Whether you are an employee or employer, there are many gems for you in this episode about how we can create workplaces that better support the over 53 million working caregivers in the U.S, including the nearly 42 million who are responsible for their elderly family members.  

In this episode you will hear:

  • How Jamie came to be working in employment law
  • The evolution of employment law throughout the pandemic
  • Why negotiating or renegotiating a tailor-made agreement rather than a generic, standard ‘at will’ contract rather than resigning may be the answer to better work situations for both employers and employees who have to integrate their work-life-caregiving situation
  • Several examples of a tailor-made agreements for working caregivers and corporations
  • How training can improve understanding between managers and working caregivers
  • The importance of working caregivers to learn to advocate for themselves

About Jamie: 

Jamie Dokovna focuses her practice on business litigation, with an emphasis on employment law and commercial matters as well as condominium and homeowner association law. Jamie has extensive experience representing employers in various aspects of employment law and litigation, including litigating claims for wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, claims brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for overtime and other wage violations, and claims based on housing discrimination. 

In addition to Ms. Dokovna’s litigation experience, she counsels clients on a wide range of employment and compliance issues. She also advises clients on day-to-day issues, including ADA compliance, litigation prevention measures, wage compliance, severance agreements, company-wide policy creation and implementation, employee investigations, discipline and termination, hiring, background checks, unemployment compensation issues, worker’s compensation issues, workforce reductions, and employment contracts. 

Connect with Jamie:

Website: https://beckerlawyers.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-dokovna-4aba195/ 

Connect with Tanya:

Tanya Krim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyakrim/

Website: https://caregivercamps.com/

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About your hosts

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Tanya Krim

Tanya Krim is a long-distance caregiver for her parents who live in England. So she knows first-hand the emotional landscape and challenges of juggling work, life and caregiving. She chose to augment her 20-year career as a qualitative market researcher by obtaining her M.S. in Gerontology.

In the process, storytelling has become her passion as she believes that storytelling can offer multiple benefits to care recipients as well as their caregivers.

She is now applying her background to crafting meaningful, emotive, insight-rich Legacy Stories/Histories and spearheading storytelling training to help working caregivers as well as their care recipients reminisce, relive, revive and 'reset'.
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Debbie Howard

Debbie Howard is a former caregiver who served as both long-distance and live-in caregiver during her mom’s dying days in South Carolina, while running her Tokyo-based market research consultancy.
With the launch in 2016 of AMI (Aging Matters International) and TheCaregivingJourney.com, Debbie combined her caregiving experience with her 40 years in market research and communications to support companies and working caregivers in navigating their caregiving journeys with more ease and grace. https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiehoward/?originalSubdomain=jp
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Jonathan Brody

Jon Brody helped his mom age in place and live independently to the ripe old age of 93.
With over 30 years of marketing experience in the healthcare industry on both the client and agency sides, he has a deep knowledge of corporate needs including global strategy, market research & analytics.
He has bolstered this with his acquisition of an M.S in Gerontology from the University of Massachusetts. He is also a proud member of the Gerontological Society of America, American Society on Aging, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.