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Layoffs

How to manage pay-for-Performance in today’s harsh new business environment

09/05/2008

If your organization has plenty of employees, but not enough of the skilled workers critical to surviving a down business cycle, you’re going to have to change your compensation plan. Three changes pave the way—finally!—for a pay-for-performance system that works.

Prepare layoff rationale before handing out the pink slips

09/02/2008

Sometimes, an employer needs to downsize its workforce for any number of reasons. Whatever the reason, document why you need to cut staff before you announce the layoffs. You don’t necessarily owe every affected employee an explanation—in advance—of why his or her job is being eliminated. But you will need a clear, coherent and rational explanation later if one of the employees sues …

Should we have laid-Off employees sign releases?

09/02/2008
Q. Business has been slow and it doesn’t seem likely it will pickup in the foreseeable future. We’re going to have to let some employees go. I’ve heard some employers in our situation ask employees to sign agreements releasing the company from future employment-related claims. Should we get releases from the employees when we terminate them?

Handling layoffs with workers’ comp claims pending

09/02/2008
Q. We need to lay off an entire shift at our assembly plant. A few of these workers are off work or on temporary light-duty jobs as a result of on-the-job injuries. They have workers’ comp claims pending. If we lay off the entire shift, can we lay off the injured workers as well? …

Can I use several criteria for whom to lay off?

09/02/2008

Q. I need to lay off some staff. I was going to select some based on the fact that they were the most recently hired. I was also going to select others who were hired earlier, retaining some who were hired in between the two groups. Is that permitted? …

The 6 kinds of terminations … and how to avoid lawsuits for each one

08/21/2008
Terminations are the spark to many employment lawsuits. And for each of the six kinds, there are some common steps employers can take to make sure they defend themselves if the termination is challenged in court …

Try these 10 creative alternatives to handing out pink slips

08/01/2008

Laying off workers can strain more than the employees who lose their jobs and the managers who have to deliver the bad news. Before your organization starts handing out pink slips, consider some alternatives that have worked for employers during past economic slumps …

Equality the Hard Way: Women’s Employment, Pay Decreasing

07/29/2008
The economy’s current slowdown—following seven years of growth—is erasing two decades of progress for working women. Women historically have weathered recessions relatively well. A new congressional report says that trend ended in the fourth quarter of 2007, as both employment rates and pay began to fall.

Contemplating a RIF? Use clear criteria for who loses job

07/09/2008
In these difficult times, your organization may have to undergo a reduction in force (RIF). If you do, it pays to develop objective standards for who can stay and who must go. By outlining your plan and sticking with it, you reduce your chance of losing a lawsuit a former employee might bring. Remember that fired employees will visit an attorney, who will try to find a reason to sue you …

Check post-Layoff rehire policies for disparate-Age impact

07/08/2008
In tough economic times, organizations sometimes have to make hard choices—such as whether to temporarily lay off employees. Of course, you’ll hope to ramp up staffing when the economy rebounds. That’s when you’ll need to be extra careful. If you bar workers you laid off from being rehired, you may be courting trouble …