Mergers require a lot of planning and investment. When two companies become one, there may be a need to move people from one facility to another or everyone to a completely new space. The company may need to refine some of its practices, eliminate some departments and even lay off redundant workers.
Large staff reductions are often just part of the merger process. You won’t necessarily need two of every position. In fact, a merger can be an opportunity to streamline the company overall, potentially helping to decrease its operating expenses.
Making decisions about who to retain and who to let go is never easy, but you will eventually settle on the best staff decisions for the newly merged company. Before your company notifies anyone about their potential termination or layoff, there’s an extra step you may want to take to avoid allegations of discrimination.
Review the pool of affected employees for shared characteristics
As a manager or executive, you don’t want to reduce your workers down to their demographic details. You think of them as holistic people, which might prevent you from noticing a trend in who is laid off.
It’s very important that you review the data for the people selected for layoffs or terminations to see if there is a disproportionate representation of one sex, race or age group. Any protected characteristic requires evaluation so that you don’t make a mistake that leads to claims against the business after the merger.
Sometimes, companies may have to fine-tune the way that they approach merger decisions to improve optics and reduce the likelihood of anyone claiming systemic discrimination. Considering your risks as you make decisions related to the management of a corporation can protect your business.
