The Department of Labor released new unemployment figures today. Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 5.7%. That is the highest it has been in 4 years. The DOL found that the manufacturing, construction and retail industries were seeing lots of layoffs, while education and health care are still growth industries.

In the Panhandle of Texas, the unemployment rate is not nearly as high. The last figures I found are for June 2008, and show that the unemployment rate is only 3.7% here. But that doesn’t mean that every industry is solid in our area. Several of my clients have recently laid off a few employees because of increasing expenses, mainly for transportation.

If you have to lay off employees, it is important to know how to do so without discriminating against any of the employees who lose their jobs. Just because you have an economic reason for your actions doesn’t mean that your business is immune from facing a lawsuit by one or more of the employees you laid off. In fact, in hard times, an employee who has been laid off may have difficulty getting reemployed and then decide he/she has little to lose by suing you. So here are some tips to protect your business during a layoff: Continue reading Layoffs Can Lead to Lawsuits →