In conducting a reduction-in-force (“RIF”), what selection criteria may an employer use?
Leonard: An employer needs to develop specific, neutral and business-related criteria to use in selecting employees for a RIF. For example, selecting particular positions for layoff because those functions are being outsourced is common today. Other criteria may include length of service with the employer, transferability of an employee’s skills to other positions or performance. Employers should not deviate from the RIF criteria in selecting employees for termination. Otherwise, an employee might claim the termination decision was pretextual, because he or she did not fit within the selection criteria. Editor: What kind of notice does an employer have to give of a RIF? Leonard: Under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN”) employers with one hundred or more full-time employees generally must provide 60 days advance written notice of a plant closing or a mass layoff, as defined under the statute. There are limited exceptions to this notice requirement, in
