ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996             TAG: 9609270035
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: 3    EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER

LAYOFFS WITHOUT PLAN PUT EMPLOYERS AT RISK, LAWYER SAYS

"Employees who are laid off are filing discrimination and wrongful discharge claims in record numbers," according to Todd Leeson, an attorney with Flippin, Densmore, Morse, Rutherford & Jessee of Roanoke.

To protect employers from such suits, Leeson counsels clients to carefully review layoff decisions, ensuring they have legitimate and nondiscriminatory reasons supporting them.

"A company that needs to reduce its work force is well advised to implement an objective layoff plan to achieve its organizational goals," he said. "Using its plan, the company may then make its individual layoff decisions."

When faced with reducing the work force, Leeson said companies should consider these factors: reasonable production standards, seniority, the total number of jobs to be eliminated and work performance. The latter should be determined by fair and objective performance evaluations, he said.

On the other hand, Leeson said, involuntary reductions based solely on an employee's compensation, pension eligibility or subjective performance evaluations "create the risk of liability."

And a company that does not apply its "layoff criteria in an even-handed manner is more likely to risk potential liability."

To implement a downsizing, Leeson said the first step is to develop written guidelines that set objective criteria for the layoff. The company should then apply its plan in an even-handed manner. "A company must be prepared to explain any deviations in the application of its plan," he said.

"As companies forecast the shape of their operations, they must include in their planning some consideration of how they will manage their current work forces," Leeson said.

When that means eliminating jobs and layoffs, "companies must exercise care to ensure they will be able to justify, with objective evidence, the reasons for their layoff decisions."

LENGTH: Short :   45 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  (headshot) Leeson