RIF's

AZHR

Never having done layoffs before, I don't really know where to begin.......We have to layoff 4 employees out of a specific work group.  What documentation do I need to provide to the employee?  We are offering severance, and I have a separation agreement, but I am not sure what else to include.  Also, management doesn't necessarily want to do it by seniority.  They have some junior employees assigned to a specific position that the senior employees are not qualified to do.  In order to have the senior employees qualified for these positions, it would require a lot of training, and money.  Suggestions??

HRforME

Do the Sr employees all fall in the older age group and the younger all fall in the non-ADEA covered age group? I think it is 40, but don't quote me on that.  You need to internally document how you are deciding on who to layoff. You need to be able to prove a business reason that is non-discriminatory.  If they are all ADEA protected and you have not trained any of them to do the junior employee's work but have only trained younger employees, that in itself could be considered discrimination. Have you ever offered for them to be trained/qualified? Or have you ever hired a junior employee who is over 40?

I would run the profiles by a local employment attorney on this one, making sure that your separation agreement meets the ADEA criteria (they have to be given 45 days or so to decide whether to sign it or not, 7 days to revoke, etc).