Human Resources (HR) Basics for Non-HR Professionals
For most small business owners and managers, there is a wide gap between hiring your first employee(s) and bringing on an HR manager or team of HR professionals. Yet in the meantime, there are a lot of legal details and best practices to know to best position your business for success. This course focuses on the laws most often violated (unknowingly) by small businesses (according to the Small Business Administration), how to prevent these violations, and common issues that arise in the employee management process.
This course is designed for:
- Business owners or managers without a dedicated HR expert on your staff
- Administrative staff that are performing HR duties as part of their responsibilities
Topics Include:
- Employment Laws most often violated by Small Businesses
- Independent Contractor VS Employee
- Exempt VS Non-Exempt Employee
- Overtime & Other Pay
- FMLA, OSHA, Harassment and more
- Non-Compete Agreements
- Ways to protect yourself and your company
- Job Descriptions
- Background Checks
- Testing
- Benefits
- Disciplining
- Termination
Registration Information
Date: October 6, 2026
Schedule: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Location: HyFlex
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Registration Fall 2026
Date: October 6, 2026
Time: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Location: HyFlex (participants can attend in person or virtually)
Fee: $299
Registration Type
Early Bird Closes: 9/15/2026
Late Registration Begins: 9/28/2026
Course Registration Closes: 10/5/2026
Registration Fees
Early Registration Fee: $260
Late Registration Fee: $318
Cancellation Policy: Due to program costs and space limitations for these programs, participants are expected to cancel their registration at least 24 hours ahead of the program. Cancellations that occur less than 24 hours prior to the start of the program will be considered no-shows and may be removed from future programming and/or charged a course fee.
Disability Statement: Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the UW-Madison SBDC office at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu to request accommodations.
Note: Payment will be required at time of registration. You must have either a credit card or valid UW-Madison funding string to be able to register.
The Small Business Development Center at UW Madison is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®.
Brittany Hanson, MBA, PHR
Instructor, AVP of HR Operations, Park Bank
Beth Skogen Photography
www.bethskogen.com
Brittany loves Madison, loves HR, and is excited to meet you! Brittany has been in HR for over 13 years and has amassed experience in a variety of areas. Working as the HR Manager at Senior Helpers Home Care, and then a Talent Acquisition Consultant II at UW Credit Union, Brittany has extensive experience in recruitment and talent acquisition. Having recruited in high-volume recruiting industries, as well as the most competitive employment market to date, grass roots and ‘outside of the box’ recruitment strategies have been a long-time focus and passion for Brittany.
Today Brittany holds the role of AVP of HR Operations at Park Bank, with a primary focus on training and development, performance management, and employee relations. In her current position Brittany also supports payroll, benefits, compensation, and communication strategies. Strategic Human Resources is a department goal at Park Bank, and Brittany enjoys partnering with leaders throughout the organization to show how valuable HR can truly be.
Brittany is a graduate of UW-Madison, with a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare. Brittany also completed an MBA through the University of Phoenix, and holds a PHR certification from HRCI. Brittany has been a long-time volunteer leader with the Greater Madison Area SHRM Chapter, and held the role of Chapter President from 2020-2021. Brittany still volunteers with GMA SHRM, as well as the WI State SHRM Council as a member of the State Conference Planning Committee. Brittany also sits on the United Way Women United Council, and teaches yoga at Dragonfly Hot Yoga in Madison.
All of the information was valuable. I learned a lot from Brittany and all of the participants.
Thank you so much! I feel I have gained confidence for my new role and am excited to continue learning.
This is a much-needed course for small businesses. It answered so many questions I had! [I especially appreciated the information about] details of employment law and how to be compliant.
Very awesome course. Short and sweet with a lot of relevant information, which every manager and leader should take. [I appreciated] practical applications of HR policies at work.
The information on employee files, interviewing, and job descriptions were most valuable to me. Brittany Hanson taught the class very well. She kept the info relevant, and truly seemed very passionate in regards to the material.
Everything was helpful; it made HR duties feel less scary. I appreciated the wide range of topics covered, and dependable/free resources to use going forward – a crash course on being a good employer.
I was hoping to learn more about compliance – which is EXACTLY what I got. Perfect course description.
I appreciated that questions were answered fully. There was a lot of material, but it was organized and well put together. I appreciated the different scenarios that were presented to see how the things being discussed could be applied. Very good class!
Website business legalities, state and federal, shipping, etc. Great examples and discussion, the slides and links were excellent.
The instructor was great and answered our real-life questions.
The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a proud part of the Office of Business & Entrepreneurship within the Universities of Wisconsin. It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison is also part of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub at UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison helps entrepreneurs succeed at any stage. We offer no-cost, confidential consulting and business education across a wide region, primarily serving Dane, Sauk, and Columbia counties. SBDC services are provided in a nondiscriminatory way to all legal residents and citizens in the US.
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact us at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu or call (608) 263-2221.