Venable partner Bob Ames and associate Lesley Marlin were quoted in a September 30, 2011 Law360 article on the likelihood of companies instituting another round of layoffs due to a bleak economic forecast.
Commenting on the legal issues faced by employers, Ames said, “The legal fallout from recession-era layoffs should also make employers more wary of undertaking more reductions in force without careful planning.” Noting that “employees may be even less sanguine now about their prospects for landing another job, given that the unemployment rate is now hovering around 9 percent,” Ames added, “That's going to contribute to their being willing to be much more litigious.”
Speaking about the use of early retirement incentive programs, Marlin said, “Early retirement incentive programs are frequently used by companies with defined benefit plans, which afford companies much greater flexibility as far as designing early retirement incentives, which can be funded from existing plan assets, as opposed to a company's operating funds.”
Commenting on the legal issues faced by employers, Ames said, “The legal fallout from recession-era layoffs should also make employers more wary of undertaking more reductions in force without careful planning.” Noting that “employees may be even less sanguine now about their prospects for landing another job, given that the unemployment rate is now hovering around 9 percent,” Ames added, “That's going to contribute to their being willing to be much more litigious.”
Speaking about the use of early retirement incentive programs, Marlin said, “Early retirement incentive programs are frequently used by companies with defined benefit plans, which afford companies much greater flexibility as far as designing early retirement incentives, which can be funded from existing plan assets, as opposed to a company's operating funds.”