Layoffs are sometimes a necessity. A company that has been growing and expanding may see a reduction in sales, perhaps due to an economic recession. The only way to keep the company in the black is to trim the workforce. A layoff helps to reduce costs so that the business itself can continue.
As such, layoffs are legal. As an employer, you simply need to know what steps to take to carry out the layoffs properly. One of the key things to avoid is the appearance of discrimination.
Will the layoffs disproportionately affect one group?
Of course, you may not discriminate overtly when doing layoffs. Deciding to fire every worker over 40 years old would be a violation of their rights under age discrimination laws, for instance. Layoffs should, ideally, be more spread out among the workforce.
But it’s also important to consider how a specific group of employees may be more impacted than another. A layoff should apply equally to all employees.
For instance, perhaps your workforce is predominantly male just because it is a male-dominated industry. Your human resource and accounting departments, however, are made up mostly of female workers. They may be only 25% of your overall workforce, for instance, but 90% of those divisions are women. If you lay off mainly workers from HR and accounting – even if the layoff was necessary –it could still be discriminatory. You could be accused of gender discrimination for intentionally targeting female workers.
Your legal options
Whether you are considering how to perform these layoffs or facing discrimination allegations as a business owner, be sure you know what legal steps to take.