How Not To Do “Austerity Rollouts”

Some law firms have already furloughed employees, cut salaries or laid off employees in response to the Covid crisis, and many others likely have austerity plans in the works. Common decency and regard for others dictates how this should and should not be handled, although sometimes the best of intentions may lead to no clear conclusion. A column from the Above the Law website looks at some of what’s gone down so far. Some say Friday is the best day to give the bad news; others say Thursday or Monday. One thing seems clear: Recipients are at least owed a personal notification. In the current circumstance, that might mean phone or video conference, as opposed to email. Some firms, according to this post, have abandoned any pretense of civility, and apparently there are cases where furloughed or laid off staff have gotten the news first by discovering their profile is no longer on the website.