Limit Your Legal Exposure During Layoffs - Workology

Limit Your Legal Exposure During Layoffs - Workology How Can Employers Protect Themselves From Post-Layoff Discrimination? The current economic downturn has not only been brutal for company balance sheets but for individual balance sheets too. It seems everyday when we pick up the newspaper big and small companies alike are announcing layoffs. With the national unemployment rate at 9.4% in August, foreclosures on the rise, credit card debt climbing to unprecedented levels and many Americans wondering how they are going to make ends meet, it is no big surprise that theres been an uptick in litigation against former employers. The EEOC reported a 15% increase in discrimination claims in 2008 compared to the previous year and many attorneys expect that number to be even higher in 2009. Consider when Lehman Brothers laid off employees in January 2009 several former employees claimed the company did not give them the required 60 days notice under the WARN act. And, in October 2008 just as the downturn began, four female former executives/staffers of Dell, Inc. filed charges of age and sex discrimination alleging that the recent layoffs unfairly targeted women and employees over 40. I am not suggesting that discrimination claims or claims of companies failing to follow legal requirements is something new, but with jobs being scarce and candidates competing with greater numbers of applicants for new positions, it is becoming increasingly likely that former employees will more closely scrutinize how they were treated by their former employer. And in situations where they perceive they were mistreated or where there is a perception of favoritism and/or discrimination, those employees may be more likely to file change. In good economic times, when opportunities are plentiful and pay is competitive, people may overlook how they were treated especially if they can make a quick transition to a better position with greater stability, income and benefits. But in todays environment where there are literally hundreds of applicants for each open position and positions are typically lower paying than what many people had before it is no wonder former employees are considerin g lawsuits for misconduct on an employers part. How Can Employers Protect Themselves From Post-Layoff Discrimination? According to Lawrence Z. Lorber, an employment lawyer at Proskauer Rose in Washington, D.C. People take legal action out of desperation as it becomes more difficult to find new employment. When there is no job, there is no safety valve, he said, so people who have issues and then lose their jobs or have some adverse employment action taken, are now much more willing to file their suits. So, what actions should employers take to guard against claims of discrimination? Well there are the tried and true steps that should always be followed including: Identify the reasons a layoff is necessary Look for alternatives Establishing an objective selection criteria Know the demographics of your workforce Conduct disparate impact testing Secure a signed release and waiver agreement Calculate both the obvious and the not so obvious costs of the layoff Determine if there are any contracts in place that should be reviewed and considered Review local, state and federal statutes such as FMLA, WARN, Military Leaves, ERISA etc. Consult with legal counsel And then there are the things that arent so legalistic. These fall under the category of Treat employees the way you would like to be treated and Do the Right Thing. These include: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate Talk to your employees face-to-face Answer their questions openly and honestly if you dont know something say so and offer to help find the answer Provide advanced notice of the layoff if possible After the announcements are made, if employees are not leaving immediately, do not avoid them like the plague treat them like the valued employee they are If they are leaving immediately dont hand them a box and walk them to their desk to collect their things and then escort them out the door in front of everyone give employees the opportunity to leave with dignity and offer them an opportunity to come back at a later time when there are fewer co-workers to get their things Treat employees the way you would want to be treated in a similar situation While these actions wont guarantee protection from a wrongful termination or discrimination lawsuit, most employees dont sue their former employers because they had to make tough employment decisions or even because they made a mistake, people generally sue a former employer because of how they perceive they were treated how you made them feel. According to Joel Christiansen, a practicing employment attorney at Christiansen Law in Portland, OR,people take legal action because they feel a sense of injustice for the way they were treated and want to investigate whether they may have been subject to unlawful employment practices. From my perspective as a plaintiffs lawyer, I would say, companies take illegal actions out of desperation as it becomes more difficult for them to fulfill their moral obligations to employees. These things never take place in a vacuum, in addition to how you make an exiting employee feel, keep in mind that remaining employees will know how you treated their friend and co-worker and their morale and loyalty just might depend on your actions.

Writing Resume - A Creative Writing Resume Template Can Help You Increase Your Odds of Getting That Dream Job

<h1>Writing Resume - A Creative Writing Resume Template Can Help You Increase Your Odds of Getting That Dream Job</h1><p>A experimental writing resume layout can assist you with expanding your chances of landing that fantasy position. This isn't an outlandish assignment. The abilities you have are a higher priority than the instruction you have attended.</p><p></p><p>You can use an exploratory writing resume format to show the amount you have achieved in your vocation. On the off chance that you can refer to your instructive accomplishments, at that point it will be simpler for businesses to discover the words to depict your achievements. The equivalent is valid for your different achievements. You ought to likewise make reference to your ranges of abilities in your resume.</p><p></p><p>Your individual articulations ought to likewise show how you can best profit your manager and the organization all in all. You ought t o likewise incorporate any charitable effort that you may have done and the reasons why you feel this is pertinent to your current position.</p><p></p><p>Speaking about your abilities, you ought to likewise feature this in your resume as a significant piece of your profile. Any degree or work experience that you have acquired ought to be remembered for your resume. There are some expert resume scholars who incorporate your instruction and work understanding as well as your distributions that you have composed or your work that you have delivered. This will significantly improve your odds of getting hired.</p><p></p><p>When you go after a job, you ought to consider remembering for your resume any extraordinary abilities that you have. The explanation is that a few organizations esteem the experience and the aptitudes that you have and would not oppress an applicant who has indicated their abilities and information in regions that were n ot legitimately identified with their position.</p><p></p><p>The secondary school certificate isn't generally adequate for some positions. These days, numerous organizations necessitate that up-and-comers have a professional education to be thought of. The way that you have a higher education and are not kidding about seeking after a vocation in a specific field is something to remember for your resume on the off chance that you are looking for a vocation in the experimental writing field.</p><p></p><p>So, regardless of whether you are going after a position in advertising, designing, administrative or different fields, you have to remember your composing abilities for your resume. It shows that you are not kidding about what you are doing and that you are likewise fit for composing powerful continues. Bosses like this.</p>

Managers Dominating the Delegation Game - Your Career Intel

Supervisors Dominating the Delegation Game - Your Career Intel My experience working with upper level administration applicants has over and again uncovered that assignment is one of most grounded instruments available to a pioneer. Time after time experts see assignment as an indication of shortcoming, when in actuality acing this expertise is a fundamental quality for pioneers who need to climb the stepping stool. At the point when you realize how to designate successfully, you'll save time in your workday, gain the capacity to concentrate on progressively urgent errands and urge your representatives to fill in as a group and grow new abilities. In any case, you can miss out on every one of these advantages in case you're utilizing an inappropriate designation methods. Continue perusing to get familiar with a portion of the top procedures for compelling assignment. Pick the Right Types of Tasks In case you're similar to most experts, your day comprises of some elevated level undertakings, a couple of low-level obligations and different obligations that fall some place in the middle. In case you're the kind of pioneer who experiences difficulty relinquishing obligations, start by appointing a portion of the lower-level things on your plan for the day. As you manufacture trust with your workers, dole out them ever more elevated level assignments. Another approach to slip into assignment is to pick undertakings that aren't solid matches with your capacities or your most basic activity capacities. For instance, if your essential job requires exceptional times of focus and on the off chance that you feel ruined by your steady convergence of email, delegate correspondence to somebody who's talented at figuring out a full inbox. Give Clear Instructions You can't anticipate that your representatives should guess what you might be thinking when you're giving them new obligations. Set aside some effort to thoroughly consider all the complexities of precisely how you complete certain errands. Ensure you've given all the important apparatuses and wellsprings of data and stay accessible to address any inquiries that may emerge. Trust Your Employees On the off chance that you give somebody a task yet you're continually investigating that individual's shoulder to guarantee that everything is finished agreeable to you, you're presumably not sparing yourself much time or exertion. When you choose to assign an errand, in addition to the fact that you should step back and permit your representatives to perform, yet you ought to likewise consider giving them the position to take more responsibility for undertakings. On the off chance that you urge them to alter or enhance the procedures, you'll frequently observe better outcomes. What are you top tips on the best way to appoint? Tell us by leaving a remark beneath.

Guest Post What your College Degree Means to an Employer

Visitor Post What your College Degree Means to an Employer A visitor post by Aniya Wells There's no denying the way that school graduates face an extreme activity showcase today. That will dishearten a great deal of new alumni, yet there's a silver coating to their dilemma. The professional education that they endeavored to procure is presumably the most significant bit of paper in their pursuit of employment more significant than any resume or astutely composed introductory letter. Insufficient school graduates comprehend that they're a piece of a fortunate segment that gets first thought when businesses think about fresh recruits. In spite of what a few pundits guarantee, an advanced degree is as yet the standard capability for most section level proficient positions. By and by, the quest for new employment can be debilitating and discouraging for even the most exceptionally improved school graduates. A well deserved degree may appear to be an exercise in futility (and cash) after such huge numbers of occupation requests go unanswered. I'd like remind those disillusioned graduates that their degree has esteem. This is the thing that numerous businesses truly think when they see a degreed work candidate deserving of the position. You're a diligent employee. Regardless of what you major was, I'm certain that the way to your degree was no simple one. An English degree can be similarly as hard to procure as a qualification in Engineering, and that reality isn't lost on most employing experts. They regard work competitors who put the time in to acquire a degree, regardless of what discipline it's in. You contributed long stretches of strenuous investigation, research, and self-improvementâ€"and that is the thing that you should make understood on your resume and during interviews. Consider it along these lines: different candidates need to concoct long periods of related professional training so as to rival the degreed applicant. A degree is an image of difficult work, and that is something that you shouldn't trifle with. On the off chance that you worked your way through school, make certain to discuss that with the selection representative; it's an indication that you realize the stuff to succeed. You have the commitment to oversee things as far as possible. Think about your advanced education as a four-year (or three, or five, or anyway numerous it took) long task, an undertaking to which you devoted yourself totally. Only one out of every odd individual can postpone delight and make that sort of promise to an undertaking, be it an advanced education or a marketable strategy. That sort of devotion is profoundly appealing to businesses who search for consistency and industriousness in their recruits. In the event that you remained concentrated long enough to finish your degree, a business thinks, maybe you have the stuff to contend. A professional education is evidence that you won't duck out whenthings get extreme; you're sufficiently able to stay until the end. You're a beneficial speculation. Most importantly, bosses see youthful, degreed work candidates as an interest later on for their organization. Somebody recently out of school with a brain brimming with thoughts and good faith could be an amazing resource for any organization. A few organizations employ new alumni in light of the fact that their absence of professional training makes it simpler to prepare them for organization explicit approaches and techniques (no negative behavior patterns to un-learn.) Others may need laborers who can think like their young clients. Do you concur with me? Are professional educations still as important in this overwhelming time of new work? Or on the other hand would they say they are relics of the past? I'd love some input! An independent blogger and author for more than ten years, Aniya Wells currently consistently adds to the Onlinedegreeprograms.com blog. She is energetic about offering potential understudies guidance as they set out on an on the web or conventional degree program. Aniya is amped up for the most recent advances in innovation that have made a far reaching instruction increasingly open to everybody. It would be ideal if you direct inquiries or remarks to aniyawells@gmail.com.