Consultation

Dr. Shonna Waters is the Vice President of HR Innovations and Insights (formerly known as “Research”) at the Society for Human Resource Management, where she leads the team that provides evidence-based insights, recommendations, and innovations at the intersection of people and work to improve the employee experience and business performance. Prior to joining SHRM, Dr. Waters spent over 15 years helping organizations make evidence-based decisions as an external and internal consultant. Most recently, she was the Technical Director of Human Resources Strategy and Program Design at the National Security Agency where she led the transformation of NSA’s promotion, performance management, and awards and recognition systems, the design and validation of the Agency’s analyst hiring assessments, and a variety of other evaluation and organizational performance projects. Dr. Waters holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology and Statistics, a certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University's Leadership Coaching Program in the Institute for Transformational Leadership, and is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF). Her work has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, the Handbook of Employee Selection, and she has published over 50 technical reports and presented at over 25 professional conferences.

Shayna Balch is a partner in both the Phoenix and Los Angeles offices. She represents employers in employment and labor litigation matters before federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies. She handles matters across all facets of labor and employment law including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, restrictive covenants, preventive counseling, employee training, personnel policies, and employment agreements. Shayna has represented clients before trial and appellate courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Arizona Civil Rights Division, and United States Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel (OSC).

Sheldon Blumling is a Partner in the Irvine, California office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, a national labor and employment law firm. He is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. He advises clients with respect to all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation, including retirement plans, health and welfare benefit plans and equity-based compensation plans.

Follow Sheldon on Twitter  @labor_attorneys.

John A. Rubino, SHRM-SCP, CCP, CBP, GRP, WLCP, is founder and president of Rubino Consulting Services, a global human resources consulting company based in Pound Ridge, New York. His areas of expertise cover all areas of Human Resources program design. An internationally acclaimed speaker for SHRM and WorldatWork, John is the author of numerous human resources articles, and is frequently quoted in professional publications. He holds BA and MBA degrees, as well as a lifetime Achievement Award from WorldatWork. John works with a wide variety of organizations and his consulting practice takes him all around the world; in fact, he has visited one hundred and nine countries!

Tammy D. McCutchen is a senior affiliate with Resolution Economics, providing expert services in the Company’s Wage & Hour and Human Capital Strategy groups.

McCutchen became affiliated with Resolution Economics in 2021. She is a nationally recognized expert in all aspects of wage and hour law. Her experience includes regulation drafting and enforcement, conducting internal compliance audits, defending agency investigations, designing compliance applications using smart technology, and serving as a consulting and testifying expert in wage and hour class and collective actions.

Prior to joining the DOL, she served as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor. Nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she was the country’s top enforcer of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and wage laws affecting government contractors (the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act). She managed an annual budget of $160 million and 1,400 employees, represented by two unions, in more than 250 offices across the country. She was responsible for the issuance of opinion letters and set enforcement policy. She also was the principal architect of the 2004 revisions to the overtime exemption regulations, the most significant overhaul of the regulations in 50 years. Since leaving DOL, she has been the principal author of numerous comments on proposed changes by DOL to the FLSA regulations, including on overtime and independent contractors. She also has defended dozens of employers facing DOL investigations of FLSA, DBA, and SCA compliance.

After serving at the DOL, she practiced law with Littler Mendelson, PC and was a founding vice president and managing director of ComplianceHR. At CHR, she directed the development of the only on-demand suite of intelligent compliance applications focused on helping employers address the ever-changing federal and state employment law requirements on minimum wage, overtime, independent contracting and more. Her Navigator IC and Navigator OT apps assess the risks of classifying workers as independent contractors and employees as overtime exempt as quickly as it takes to fill out an on-line questionnaire. She remains a Strategic Advisor for the company.

Previously, she was in-house counsel for employment at the Hershey Company, practiced law at Skadden Arps, and clerked for Honorable Daniel A. Manion on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Scott is the lead negotiator of The Frontier Project. Working predominantly within the Frontier Envoy unit of the firm, he discreetly investigates global market opportunities, moderates executive summit meetings, leads product development teams and provides negotiation support to key clients.

Prior to founding The Frontier Project, Scott worked as a British Diplomat and led business development for a global law firm. He holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics where he studied on a Barclays Scholarship, and a graduate degree in Security Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Scott resides in Virginia, where Frontier’s production studio is based, though is more often found operating out of Frontier’s New York locations. He keynotes regularly on the interplay of decision dynamics and innovation in global markets and the personal discipline of innovation.

As with his teammates at Frontier, Scott passionately believes that shareholders, society and the environment all mutually benefit when innovation and market influence strategies are deployed for sustainable returns.

Sheldon Blumling is a Partner in the Irvine, California office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, a national labor and employment law firm. He is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group. He advises clients with respect to all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation, including retirement plans, health and welfare benefit plans and equity-based compensation plans.

Follow Sheldon on Twitter  @labor_attorneys.

Dr. Naomi Abrams holds a Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy and certification as an ergonomic assessment specialist.  Holding the firm belief that prevention is the least expensive cure, her global consulting firm specializes in occupational health and ergonomics. Developed by Dr. Abrams, her company is the premier provider for the creation and implementation of ergonomics programs to keep employees working at peak performance.  She is a consultant, author, and trainer.  She lectures internationally on occupation-based ergonomics, intervention services, and the aging workforce.

Joseph (“Joe”) Beachboard is a nationally recognized employment lawyer who also closely tracks the most important developments at the U.S. Supreme Court impacting the business community. He has more than 30 years of experience representing management in a wide variety of employment and labor matters in perhaps the most challenging state in the nation for employers – California.  Mr. Beachboard speaks regularly before human resource and employer groups on cutting edge employment law topics.  He is a member of SHRM and has been an annual presenter at both the SHRM Annual Conference and the Employment Law and Compliance Conference for two decades.  Mr. Beachboard is frequently quoted in such leading publications as HR Magazine, National Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, NY Times, HR Executive and Workforce, and has been published in dozens of legal and business journals. Throughout his career in Los Angeles, Mr. Beachboard has represented dozens of studios and entertainment properties.  He cites his most interesting project as working with the cast and crew of the television show The Office, from its pilot through the final season.