Making the decision to terminate workers is never easy. Even supervisors who have witnessed disciplinary issues or a slump in professional performance may want to give individual workers the benefit of the doubt.
In some cases, organizations may need to terminate a number of employees simultaneously to streamline operations and reduce recurring expenses. Significant staffing reductions may result in multiple workers facing layoffs or terminations at the same time. This creates a glut of available talent on the market, making it harder for workers to quickly acquire new positions elsewhere.
Occasionally, the workers who lose their jobs in such scenarios may insist that their employers violated their rights by conducting a wrongful termination. Business leaders, managers and human resources professionals often need to be proactive when preparing for downsizing to avoid allegations of discrimination and wrongful termination.
How can businesses protect themselves?
Employers technically have the right to fire workers for any lawful reason, including a need to better control company costs. However, they cannot consider the protected characteristics of employees when deciding who to fire.
If employees notice a trend because many of the people who lose their jobs share the same characteristics, they may start to suspect that the termination was wrongful. For example, if the people laid off from different departments tend to be older than most of the other workers in those departments, the terminated workers might be able to assert that they experienced age discrimination.
Leaders at organizations may need to establish clear and objective standards that guide the staff reduction process. They should document how they selected individuals for termination based on job performance, seniority and other appropriate factors.
After creating a list of workers to potentially include in the layoffs, multiple parties may need to perform a review of that list. It may be possible to identify signs of a trend that could lead to allegations of discrimination. The company could then make adjustments to prevent downsizing from having a disproportionate impact on certain categories of employees.
Employers intending to make sweeping changes to their current employee rosters may need help avoiding legal controversy during that process, and that is okay. Recognizing that employment litigation could follow mass terminations can help business leaders limit the likelihood of costly and reputation-damaging litigation.
