President's Report

As we head into the second half of May, it already feels like summer is trying to make an early appearance here in the Black Hills. With warmer days, busy schedules, and tourism season beginning to ramp up, it’s a great reminder of how quickly this time of year moves and how important it is to stay connected, engaged, and intentional in both our work and our personal lives.

One of the highlights from the past few weeks was the South Dakota SHRM State Conference. It was wonderful seeing so many familiar faces from BH SHRM attending, learning, networking, and representing our chapter so well. Conferences like this are such a great reminder that HR professionals are constantly growing, adapting, and finding new ways to support both employees and organizations. I hope everyone who attended returned with fresh ideas, renewed energy, and valuable connections.

As a reminder, our next BH SHRM program, Setting the Tone for the First 90 Days: Recruiting, Onboarding & Employee Handbooks, will take place on May 26th. We hope you’ll join us for another great learning opportunity and discussion with fellow HR professionals.

We are also excited to share that our summer workshop series, Crucial Conversations: Mastering Dialog, is coming this July and August. This members-only workshop series will be limited to just 20 participants to help create a meaningful and interactive experience. Watch your email and our social media channels for registration details and additional information coming soon.

Thank you for continuing to support BH SHRM and one another. I truly appreciate the engagement, encouragement, and professionalism our members bring to this organization. I’m looking forward to an exciting summer ahead and hope to see many of you at upcoming events and programs.

Ara Baumstarck, President

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Chapter Meeting

Setting the Tone for the First 90 Days: Recruiting, Onboarding & Employee Handbooks
May 26, 2026
Registration is from 11:00 -11:30 AM; Presentation begins at 11:30 - 1:00

Rushmore Hotel - 445 Mt Rushmore Rd, Rapid City, SD 57701

Join BH SHRM for an engaging program focused on building a strong employee experience from recruitment through onboarding and long-term success. This session will feature practical strategies and real-world insights from HR and legal professionals on improving hiring practices, creating effective onboarding systems, and developing compliant employee handbooks.

Topics include:

• Strengthening recruiting and interview processes
• Creating onboarding programs that improve retention and engagement
• Employee handbook best practices, compliance, and policy development

Attendees will leave with actionable tools and ideas to help create a positive, structured, and compliant employee experience from day one. This session will be split into 3 parts, and each speaker will present for 30 minutes. 

About the Speakers:

Brandi Christensen currently serves as a Senior HR Business Partner with the City of Rapid City. She brings more than 25 years of progressive human resources experience across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, call centers, corporate environments, telecommunications, engineering, consulting, education, local government, and healthcare. Brandi possesses comprehensive, enterprise-wide expertise across all areas of HR, positioning her as a strategic and results-driven thought leader. She is deeply committed to strengthening organizational culture, optimizing processes, and delivering measurable outcomes through impactful people strategies.

Amanda Burleson is an HR Business Partner with the City of Rapid City, known for her clear communication, strategic thinking, and ability to guide organizations through complex people challenges. With 15 years of human resources experience designing and implementing effective recruiting systems, she has strengthened hiring practices, streamlined processing, and built onboarding programs that set employees and their leaders up for long-term success. She specializes in recruiting, onboarding, compliance, investigations, and leadership development, and is a trusted advisor to managers and executives. Amanda is passionate about building positive workplace cultures, strengthening leadership capability, and creating processes that support both accountability and employee wellbeing.

Jennifer Potts (OTR/L Manager, Education & Professional Development, Monument Health) is a healthcare learning and development leader whose career sits at a distinctive intersection: clinical expertise, organizational culture design, and evidence-based people strategy. As Manager of Education & Professional Development at Monument Health — a rural health system serving the Black Hills region — she leads programs that span new hire orientation, leadership development, and workforce capability building for more than 10,000 learners annually.

Jennifer is a first author on a peer-reviewed publication in Learning Health Systems journal and a Certified StrengthsFinder Coach. Her work on onboarding has been shaped by the belief that the earliest days of employment are the highest-leverage window an organization has — and that most organizations underinvest there in predictable, fixable ways.

Jennifer Suich Frank, Esq.; AWI-CH; SHRM-SCP is an experienced attorney and workplace investigator.  Jennifer is an employment lawyer with the law firm of Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun, in Rapid City, SD.  Jennifer has been an attorney for 28 years and was previously employed in several positions in human resources. 

Jennifer has been active in Black Hills Society for Human Resource Management (BH SHRM), having served as its Certification Director for three years (2016-2018), BH SHRM President-Elect (2019), BH SHRM President in 2020 and BH SHRM Past President (2021 - 2023).  Jennifer obtained her SHRM-SCP certification in 2019.  

Jennifer enjoys family time with her husband and her young adult son, visiting her daughter (recent college graduate!!!) in Colorado, hiking, yoga, gardening, cooking, watching Jeopardy, and reading great beach novels!

Tickets

$30 Non-Member Registration

$20 Member Ticket

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HR Jobs

It is easier than ever to submit local HR jobs for posting on our website!

Click HERE to view or submit a job posting!

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Facebook

Check out the Black Hills SHRM Facebook page for updated information and events!

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Legislative Update

EEOC Lawsuit: Email Chain Cited in Age, National Origin Discrimination Case - $495K settlement – source HR Morning Find the article here.

A technology consulting company has agreed to pay $495,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit filed on behalf of an applicant who alleged age and national origin discrimination. 

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, HCL America Inc. violated federal law when it rejected a 62-year-old applicant of Indian descent in July 2021. 

The EEOC pointed to an email from the hiring manager to support the claim, asserting it said the applicant is a “good guy, but he is too old.” In the same email chain, the hiring manager also allegedly asked recruiters to forward applications from non-Indian candidates. 

Emails between recruiters and managers, including HCL vice presidents, showed the company set aside applications from qualified Indian applicants and discussed relaxing the job qualifications while searching for non-Indian candidates, the EEOC alleged.

Ultimately, HCL hired a younger, non-Indian candidate for the position.

In the EEOC’s view, this alleged conduct amounted to age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agency filed a lawsuit after attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

On April 2, 2026, a California federal court approved a two-year consent decree. Under it, HCL America must:

• Pay $495,000 to the rejected applicant
• Hire a third-party consultant to help review and revise company policies and procedures as needed concerning age and national origin discrimination, and
• Provide training to its recruitment and management teams.

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OSHA Cares – source OSHA Customer Assistance, Resources & Engagements | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA has launched the “OSHA Cares” initiative to help businesses comply with federal workplace safety requirements while also building stronger, more successful safety and health (S&H) programs for both employers and workers. 

The agency-wide effort will provide employers with guidance and support aimed at ensuring that all employees return home safely following each shift.  For more information, please click the link above. 

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ICE Redefines ‘Substantive’ I-9 Violations – source SHRM

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made recent changes to policies related to Form I-9 compliance.

ICE updated its Form I-9 inspection fact sheet online, where the agency’s apparent departure from established practice was revealed: errors that for many years have been classified as technical or procedural violations as now substantive violations.

The newly revised ICE fact sheet updates these longstanding definitions, reclassifying several common errors as substantive, including:

·         Missing date of birth.

·         Missing date of hire.

·         Incorrect use of Spanish-language I-9 outside of Puerto Rico.

·         Preparer and/or translator errors.

·         Missing title of the employer or authorized representative.

·         Failure to date sections 1 or 2.

·         Failure to enter rehire date.

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DOL Issues Proposed Joint Employer Rule – source SHRM Article link

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule on April 22 to provide a single joint employer standard under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The proposed rule sets out different standards, however, for “vertical joint employment” and “horizontal joint employment,” and explains what those terms mean. It also provides examples of when the rule applies. Please see article for further information.

For each workweek that a person is a joint employer of an employee, that joint employer is “jointly and severally” liable with any other joint employers for compliance with all the applicable provisions of the FLSA for all the hours worked by the employee in the workweek. Joint and several liability means that all joint employers are each fully responsible for the entire amount of minimum wages and overtime pay due to the employee in the workweek, and that if one of them is unable or unwilling to pay, the others are responsible for the full amount owed. In addition, each joint employer may take credit toward minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for all payments made to the employee by any other joint employer.

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Certification Preparation Classes COMING SOON!

We are gearing up for a SHRM Certification Study group this fall!  The group meets weekly for 12 weeks beginning in September to review the SHRM Learning System materials and help you prepare for your certification exam. We need a minimum of 5 students to hold the class. The cost for the SHRM Learning System materials would be $615 per participant which is a significant discount compared to purchasing on your own through SHRM ($1,055 - $1,180 regular price).  

Please e-mail Tye Kuyper ([email protected]) for more information or to request to be added to the roster!  Deadline to join the session is August 1^st.

The study group is a great way to learn the material and also provides an excellent networking opportunity.  

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Mark Your Calendars

The next three meetings are scheduled as follows:

Please mark your calendars. We look forward to seeing you there!

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Books and Brews

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Student Relations Update

Student Relations Update

I’m excited to shift into my role as Student Relations Director for BHSHRM and to focus on building stronger connections with students!

Student relations play an important role in the future of SHRM. This is how we connect with and support the next generation of HR pros—helping them feel welcomed, engaged, and confident as they begin their careers.

There’s so much opportunity here—through mentorship, networking, and hands-on experiences—to make a lasting impact on students while also strengthening our BHSHRM community.

I’d love your input! If you have ideas on how we can better engage students, create meaningful connections, or offer new opportunities, please share. I’m looking forward to growing this area of our chapter.

Email: [email protected] Attn: Christy/Student Relations

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