StretchLearn Course

Build a team without building legal exposure.

Worker classification, compliant offer letters and handbooks, the federal laws that switch on as you grow, and how to terminate cleanly, explained in plain language with real thresholds and the exact forms.

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Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

One misclassified contractor or one badly handled firing can cost a small business tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes, penalties, or a discrimination claim. This course translates the alphabet soup of FLSA, Title VII, ADA, FMLA, I-9, COBRA, and at-will employment into plain steps, real dollar thresholds, and the exact forms and documents involved. By the end you will know which laws apply to you at your headcount, how to onboard and terminate cleanly, and the records that protect you when a claim lands.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Apply the IRS and Department of Labor tests to classify a worker as an employee or independent contractor and avoid misclassification penalties

Distinguish exempt from non-exempt employees under the FLSA and calculate minimum wage and overtime obligations correctly

Draft an at-will offer letter and the workplace policies a small employer must have, including anti-harassment and an employee handbook

Identify which federal employment laws apply at each headcount threshold, from 1 to 50 or more employees

Run a lawful, well-documented termination that limits wrongful-discharge, discrimination, and retaliation exposure

Build the personnel files, I-9 records, and pay documentation that demonstrate compliance and survive an audit

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: The Employment Law Landscape and Worker Classification

Why employment law carries outsized risk for small employers, how to tell an employee from a contractor, and the penalties for getting classification wrong.

3 lessons

Why One Hire Changes Your Legal WorldContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Employee or Contractor: The Tests That DecideContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Cost of Misclassification and How to Get It RightContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Wage and Hour Law: Pay, Overtime, and Exemptions

The FLSA rules that govern minimum wage, overtime, and the exempt versus non-exempt distinction that determines who must be paid overtime.

3 lessons

The FLSA Foundation: Minimum Wage and OvertimeContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Exempt vs Non-Exempt: Who Actually Gets OvertimeContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Payroll Compliance, Final Pay, and RecordkeepingContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Hiring, Onboarding, and Required Workplace Policies

How to hire and onboard lawfully, write a compliant offer letter, and put in place the policies and handbook a small employer needs.

3 lessons

Lawful Hiring: Interviews, Offers, and the Offer LetterContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Onboarding Paperwork: I-9, W-4, and New-Hire ReportingContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Employee Handbook and Must-Have PoliciesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Managing, Terminating, and Staying Compliant as You Grow

The anti-discrimination and leave laws that switch on at each headcount, how to terminate lawfully, and how obligations scale as you add employees.

3 lessons

Anti-Discrimination Law and Headcount ThresholdsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Lawful Termination: How to Fire Without Getting SuedContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Scaling Compliance: Insurance, Audits, and When to Get HelpContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

employment lawworker classificationFLSA overtimeat-will employmentwrongful terminationemployee handbookI-9 compliancesmall business HR