Moreover, with every economic downturn comes an increase in employment litigation: as employees lose their jobs, they have nothing to lose by suing their employers. But when companies resort to laying off employees or closing facilities, they needn’t make even more trouble for themselves by breaking the law, urges CCH, a leading provider of labor and employment law information and services and part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (hr.cch.com).

To help employment attorneys and HR professionals comply with federal and state laws regarding plant closings and large layoffs, CCH is providing free access through March 31, 2009, to its proprietary content via State and Federal Employment Law Compare, with Smart Chart™ functionality, an easy-to-use online tool that provides quick answers to a wide range of employment law issues.

“This year is all about change. Several states are enforcing new legislation requiring businesses to provide employees with advance notice of significant layoffs and plant closings, and a number of states have stricter requirements than the WARN Act, the federal standard,” said David Stephanides, JD, CCH senior employment law analyst. “Violating these laws can not only bring sanctions in the form of fines and backpay awards, but also damage a company’s reputation, all at a time when companies are already challenged and morale may be threatened.”

Comparison Smart Charts provide quick, useful answers
CCH is offering the ability to access summaries of the federal law and the laws for any states of interest through its proprietary State and Federal Employment Law Compare research tool using Smart Chart functionality. To use the comparison Smart Chart for “Plant Closings, Layoffs and WARN Laws,” go to hr.cch.com/layoffs or corporatecounsel.cch.com/layoffs. Access is free through March 31, 2009.

Smart Charts let users find answers easily, as well as instantly compare information across multiple jurisdictions. Users simply select a topic, such as “Penalties” under WARN laws, from expandable menus, then choose one or more desired jurisdictions. A Smart Chart pops up with quick answers and links to the full text of relevant statutes and regulations. The data can be displayed in comprehensive chart format or in a matrix format for rapid side-by-side comparisons between jurisdictions. Smart Charts are easy to export to Microsoft® Word or Excel®.

The complete set of Smart Charts for State Employment Law Compare allows researchers to produce charts on 45 major topics and over 300 sub-topics, from Access to Personnel Files to Wage Payment, with coverage for federal law and all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

”Being able to see, at a glance, just what the law is in multiple jurisdictions allows businesses that operate in several states, as well as legal professionals, to save an enormous amount of time that would have been dedicated to laborious, state-by-state research,” Stephanides said.