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Layoffs

How does California’s plant closing law work?

12/08/2014
Q. Our company is going to have lay off a large number of employees. Are we required to give notice to the employees?

Agriculture company helps 600 laid-off employees find new jobs

10/06/2014
Milwaukee-based agricultural firm Cargill laid off 600 employees on Aug. 1. On Aug. 14, it held a companywide job fair to help them find new jobs.

Workers less worried about losing their jobs

09/09/2014
Fewer than one in five U.S. full- and part-time workers are worried that they will be laid off in the near future, according to a new Gallup poll.

RIF that shows racial disparity spells trouble

08/14/2014
Sometimes, business conditions require companies to implement reductions in force. Before you put your HR seal of approval on who stays and who goes, be sure that hidden discrimination isn’t influencing the decisions.

You lost me at ‘Hello’

08/04/2014
It may have been one of the worst layoff memos of all time. After beginning with a breezy “Hello there,” Microsoft honcho Stephen Elop’s July 17 all-staff email stumbled obliviously downhill.

What employee thresholds trigger need for notification of plant closings?

07/31/2014
Q. I am the owner of several industrial facilities, but recent financial crises have forced me to have to shut down two of these plants. These closings and subsequent layoffs will affect about 600 employees. Am I re­­quired to notify the employees before laying them off?

Separation agreements: Use arbitration agreements instead of claims releases?

07/15/2014
Q. We have seen that some companies are requiring their employees to agree to arbitration rather than a release of claims in their separation agreements. Is this an alternative worth exploring?

Watch out! EEOC takes aim at separation agreements

07/15/2014
To stay out of the cross-hairs, review your separation agreements and revise any language that could be seen as too broad.

Back RIF decisions with sound fiscal reasons–and prepare to explain them in court

07/09/2014
If an employer can present a coherent and rational explanation for why economics—not retaliation—drove a RIF decision, chances are a court won’t second-guess it.

Prepare to show you were fair if disabled workers take a hit during RIF

06/16/2014
Sometimes, poor appearances lead to lawsuits. That can certainly be the case when a reduction in force (RIF) seems to disproportionately affect a protected class of workers.