The headlines over the weekend for Connecticut have not been kind.  Two were particularly striking. First, the Courant ran a story entitled "Sizable Job Losses Expected in State".  The second wCourtesy morgue file "depression"as a story about the expected closing of The Goodwin Hotel, one of Hartford’s premier hotels. 

Both indicate a local economy that is teetering between lousy and downright awful.  As a result, there is likely to be more unemployment .  And with that, more people will be considering filing suit; such is the nature of economic downturns.

For those companies looking for a free primer on the subject of wrongful discharge claims in the state, the Connecticut Law Libraries have just posted a pretty good website with links to a variety of key statutes and summaries.  (You can also save the date of December 16th; I’ll be presenting a program for the CBIA on reductions in force as well.  Details are forthcoming soon.)

Although times may be looking bleak, companies should still not ignore the law at this point.  A prior post earlier this year focused on five issues that employers should become knowledgeable on in this economic downturn. (You can also click here, for all of my reduction in force posts.)  For employers, ask yourself how prepared you are to confront these issues.  Preparation is the key and often, when layoffs are needed, they always seem to need to occur in just a few days time.

For companies looking for other ways to save costs, the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog has an interesting post up this morning about the risks that increase with such an action.

Times are tough, but employers that abide by the law can ensure that they don’t compound the issues and financial difficulties that they may already be facing.