How Law Firms Can Protect Themselves Against Suits by Laid-Off Workers
Some fired associates are firing back with suits against their law firms, highlighting the need for firms to plan and follow the law when laying off workers.
The National Law Journal spoke with experts about their advice for firms. They told the newspaper that firms should:
• Decide which employees will be laid off using uniform and consistently applied criteria, such as seniority, practice areas and performance reviews. The decisions should be documented.
• Analyze the workers who will be let go under the layoff criteria to make sure there is no “disparate impact” on protected groups, such as women or minorities.
• Explain to workers why they are being laid off, without going in to too many details. Workers should be told the date they are expected to leave, what they will receive in their severance packages, how long they will have access to e-mail and computers, and who can answer additional questions.
• Consider paying laid-off workers more than 60 days of pay and benefits, the severance required by the federal WARN act. Also consider providing outplacement services to help laid-off employees develop strategies for landing a new job.
Roy Ginsburg, a solo practitioner in Minnesota who provides outplacement services to law firms, told the National Law Journal it’s important for law firms to retain good relationships with laid-off employees. “Every one of the people law firms are laying off could become clients down the road or could become sources for referrals,” he explained.
