EEO News provides employment law case headlines on EEO cases it believes are significant as well as an informative workplace law radio show. EEO News is not a substitute for legal research or an employment lawyer. EEOnews.com does not provide legal advice. To learn more about employment and labor laws, please contact an employment lawyer to answer your EEO legal questions.

EEO News provides employment law case headlines on EEO cases it believes are significant as well as an informative workplace law radio show. EEO News is not a substitute for legal research or an employment lawyer. EEOnews.com does not provide legal advice. To learn more about employment and labor laws, please contact an employment lawyer to answer your EEO legal questions.

EEO News provides employment law case headlines on EEO cases it believes are significant as well as an informative workplace law radio show. EEO News is not a substitute for legal research or an employment lawyer. EEOnews.com does not provide legal advice. To learn more about employment and labor laws, please contact an employment lawyer to answer your EEO legal questions.

EEO News provides employment law case headlines on EEO cases it believes are significant as well as an informative workplace law radio show. EEO News is not a substitute for legal research or an employment lawyer. EEOnews.com does not provide legal advice. To learn more about employment and labor laws, please contact an employment lawyer to answer your EEO legal questions.

Mr. Lippman and Mr. Michelson are partners in the law firm of Lippman, Michelson & Associates, specializing in ADA, EEOC and OSHA ergonomic compliance law. Their offices are located in Texas, California, and Tennessee.

EEO News provides employment law case headlines on EEO cases it believes are significant as well as an informative workplace law radio show. EEO News is not a substitute for legal research or an employment lawyer. EEOnews.com does not provide legal advice. To learn more about employment and labor laws, please contact an employment lawyer to answer your EEO legal questions.

  • Alternatives To Layoffs May Reduce The Risk Of Claims
  • When Layoffs Are Unavoidable, Proper Planning May Reduce Risk Of Employment Disputes
  • Planning the RIF.
  • Making key policy decisions – how to select among employees.
  • Strive for an objective comparison of employees where job qualifications and skills are considered in making reductions.
  • Prior to implementing a RIF, factors militating against the selection of certain employees should be considered.
  • Employers can attempt to limit their potential liability by obtaining general releases from employees affected by a RIF, in return for enhanced severance benefits or other valuable consideration.
  • Wherever possible, outplacement services should be offered to assist displaced individuals in obtaining subsequent employment.
  • Employees affected by a staff reduction should be advised of the RIF in as professional and supportive a manner as possible.
  • After the implementation of a RIF, remaining employees must be enlisted as partners committed to future growth.
  • Workforce reductions provide unique opportunities for reorganizing and streamlining operations.
  • Notice Requirements Under The Worker Adjustment And Retraining Notification Act
    • WARN applies to employers that have, nationwide:
      • 100 or more employees (excluding part-timers); or
      • 100 or more employees (including part-timers) whose total weekly work hours (excluding overtime) are at least 4,000 hours per week.
    • WARN requires an employer to give 60 days written notice, as described by the Act and Department of Labor regulations, of a “plant closing” or “mass layoff” to:
      • All affected employees (including supervisors), OR if the employees are represented by a labor organization, the international body of the union; AND
      • The State dislocated workers unit and the chief elected official of the local governmental unit where the affected facility is located.
    • A “plant closing” is defined as:
      • A permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment, or of one or more facilities or operating units within a single site of employment.
      • The shutdown results in an employment loss at the single site of employment during any 30-day period (this period is extended by WARN and the Department of Labor Regulations to 90
    • A “mass layoff” is defined as a reduction in workforce which is not the result of a plant closing; AND
      • Which results in an employment loss at a single site of employment during any 30-day period (this period is extended by WARN and the Department of Labor Regulations to 90 days), for at least 50 employees (excluding part-timers and employees who have not suffered an employment loss), if they comprise at least one-third of the workforce at the single site of employment; OR
      • Which results in an employment loss at a single site of employment during any 30-day period (this period is extended by WARN and the Department of Labor Regulations to 90 days), for at least 500 employees (excluding part-timers and employees who have not suffered an employment loss).
    • Limited exceptions to the 60 day notice requirement.
    • State and local notice requirements

The events of September 11, 2001 have affected the Company in a number of ways. That morning, one of your senior executives was at a business meeting at the World Trade Center. He is still missing. He had an employment contract pursuant to which, among other things, he (i) earned a base salary of $200,000, (ii) received quarterly bonuses averaging $25,000 based on performance (the fiscal year is a normal calendar year), (iii) received 100,000 stock options, 50,000 of which have vested but have not been exercised, another 25,000 of which would have vested on October 1, 2001, and the last of which would have vested on July 1, 2002. His life insurance policy is for $200,000 – his annual compensation. The benefits department wants to know what to tell his spouse about the Company’s position as to what is payable and when.

Your Guests:

Geraldine Eure

 – 

Assistant General Counsel, Labor Relations Group, Con Edison Company of New York, Inc.

Warren Clayman   e-mail – Clayman and Associates, Appointed Team Leader to Vice President Al Gore’s Benchmarking Study “Achieving Workforce Diversity”

EEO News provides employment law case headlines on EEO cases it believes are significant as well as an informative workplace law radio show. EEO News is not a substitute for legal research or an employment lawyer. EEOnews.com does not provide legal advice. To learn more about employment and labor laws, please contact an employment lawyer to answer your EEO legal questions.