TORONTO (December 23, 2002) - Hundreds of the world's leading employment and labour law experts think continued Canadian workforce cuts, accompanied by a flood of wrongful practice allegations, including claims of age discrimination and whistle-blower retaliation, will be the hottest workplace legal issues in the New Year, according to a new "Canada 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, surveyed dozens of leading Canadian labour and employment law attorneys as well as similar attorneys in law firms throughout the United State, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Asked to predict the leading workplace legal issues for 2003, the Canadian-based ELA members ranked their top six hot spots as:

" Family and medical leave requests
" Disability discrimination claims
" Disputes over disability accommodations
" Wrongful termination litigation
" Internal investigations of alleged employee misconduct
" Threats of violence

Stephen J. Hirschfeld, CEO and Founder of ELA, 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 in Canada, which is not necessarily good news for employers or employees", said Hirschfeld "For the second year in a row we're looking at the prospects of increased labour 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."

The survey shows only 20% of those questioned said they expect their clients to actively increase employment and labour law training for managers. Hirschfeld said this figure is distressing because experience shows that the best defense against a litigious workforce is a sound, proactive training program.

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."

Looking back over 2002, 45% of the ELA lawyers polled said there was a modest increase in workplace-related litigation. However, nearly 40% of that litigation involved workforce reductions. The second biggest reason for litigation this year over 2001 was the fact that unemployed workers were having a harder time finding work after their termination. "When times get tough, for both troubled companies and terminated workers, litigation often becomes an attractive option to generate revenue," said Hirschfeld.

There are some hopeful signs in the forecast. For example, 40% of the ELA members think employers will be spending more time addressing ethics issues at the board and executive levels. And increased workplace compliance is expected to produce fewer claims involving safety and health disputes, sexual harassment claims, and disputes over disability accommodations.