NE Fall Seminar 2026 - Setting Up Your Staff for Success: The Laws and Realities of Camp Employment
Cedar Hill Day Camp, Waltham, MA
Thursday, November 12, 2026
10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Eastern Standard Time
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Your staff are the backbone and the heart of your program and have a tremendous role in the overall success of a summer at camp. You hire and train each of them, but sometimes the message can get lost, and staff can flounder.
Setting up your staff for success starts with clear employment expectations and practices. We may have a vague sense that we should be complying with a bunch of employment laws, but how well do we understand what they really are? When organizational policies consider and uphold legal requirements, camp staff are better equipped to maintain compliance and meet expectations. Effectively drafting and communicating these policies can be tricky but are the foundation for a successful employee.
Lawyer and camp operator Isaac Mamaysky will spend the day taking participants through the basics of employment law, including what you can (and can’t) ask on a job application, how employment relationships and agreements are structured, how to craft your staff handbook to effectively communicate certain essential policies, and the key requirements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act along with corresponding policy considerations.
María Cantón, Chief People & Culture Officer (HR) and Bexi Perez, Senior Association Director at the YMCA of Greater Boston will also provide real-world examples of how these ideas have played out at their camps - from using job descriptions to set and uphold expectations to enforcing policies that have been on the books, but loosely implemented.
Our speakers will use both theoretical and real-life examples, and participants will have ample opportunities to ask questions and gain clarity on how to improve their current practices.
Learning outcomes:
1. What you can and cannot legally ask on a job application.
2. How to use your staff handbook and a job description to set expectations from the start and comply with employment laws.
3. How these expectations are managed and maintained, both logistically and legally.
*This is a 200-level offering best suited for camp directors, assistant/associate directors, HR staff, or anybody who is involved in hiring/firing.