LONDON (December 23, 2002) - Hundreds of the world's leading employment and labour law experts from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East, think continued workforce cuts, accompanied by a flood of wrongful practice allegations, including claims of illegal termination, age and sex discrimination, will be the hottest workplace legal issues in the new year, according to a new "World At Work" survey by the Employment Law Alliance (ELA) released today.

The ELA 2003 Employment Law Forecast, conducted by the opinion research firm of Reed, Haldy, McIntosh & Associates (www.rhmassociates.com) , surveyed more than 550 leading labour and employment law attorneys throughout the world whose clients are involved in the global marketplace. Asked to predict the leading workplace legal issues for 2003, the global ELA members ranked layoffs and other workforce reductions at the top of their list. Other issues that are expected to increase significantly in '03 were:

" Family and medical leave requests
" Wrongful termination litigation
" Age and sex discrimination claims
" Disability discrimination claims

Stephen J. Hirschfeld, founder and CEO of the ELA, and a partner in the California firm of Curiale, Dellaverson, Hirschfeld, Kraemer & Sloan, LLP, said the 2003 Employment Law Forecast is significant because it represents the opinions of expert practitioners who are closest to global workplace issues, from the shop floor to the corporate boardroom.

"There's no question that 2003 is going to be another very busy year for employment lawyers around the world, which is not necessarily good news for employers or employees", said Hirschfeld. "For the second year in a row we're looking at the prospect of increased labor reductions. What is most troubling, based on the survey results, is that even though the reductions in force appear inevitable, employers are planning on doing relatively little in the way of training and education to minimize their legal and financial exposure. Our advice is for companies to think twice and not be pennywise and pound foolish when it comes to setting their priorities for managing reductions."


Hirschfeld said he has worked with several large, multi-national companies in diverse industries who have "rededicated themselves to preventive strategies as a way of successfully reducing their claims and costs of litigation."

While the survey shows expected geographical regional differences, the ELA lawyers are in accord when predicting that the largest increase in workplace-related litigation will result from continued workforce reductions. And they also predict that litigation will increase as workers face a harder time finding work after their termination. "It is a universal given that when times get tough, for both troubled companies and terminated workers, litigation often becomes an attractive option to generate revenue," said Hirschfeld.