If you lay-off someone who is on disability do you have to lay-off everyone on disability?

I was laid off from my job at a large law firm last week, the reason being that they had no position for me to return to. I was on disability at the time, which I had to extend a couple of times due to an ongoing and difficult skin condition. I have heard that others who were also on disability were not laid off.

Penny Morey answered April 15, 2009|

Comment

Normally, when a company reduces its workforce, job elimination decisions are based on what work (the nature of the work) and how much work (the amount of work) that will be needed in order to optimize the chances of the company surviving the economic downturn.

What this means is that the management looks at the work that will need to be done in order to run the company efficiently and effectively. Then, they eliminate jobs by redistributing tasks/combining jobs or determining that certain work is "nice to have" versus "necessary" to the company operations. So, the management cuts jobs--not the people in the jobs--although the effect to individuals feels like the latter, versus the former. Your job must have been one that the company management felt they could accomplish through other means.

The common denominator in the jobs eliminated should be that the work can be accomplished through redistribution or that the work need not be done going forward, not the ability or disability of people in the job(s).

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Penny Morey

Penny is a seasoned human resources executive and consultant with over 25 years of diverse business experience in advising enterprise leaders on employment-related matters.