There is no denying it, this economy is unprecedented. Companies are in trouble and are laying workers off at record rates. There were over 200,000 layoffs in September nationwide at companies with over 50 employees. The National Law Journal reported these statistics lately, as well as a surge in calls to employment lawyers – both employee side and management side.

From an employee’s perspective, the fear and and uncertainty can be crippling. Generally, there is nothing illegal about a layoff. Companies are allowed to make termination decisions based on economic difficulties. Of course, they cannot choose to layoff all of the older workers, or base their decisions on other suspect classifications.

There are many legal issues that employees should consider, however, even if the layoff was legal. They include unemployment compensation, letters of reference, severance pay, earned compensation (wages, commissions, incentive compensation) and others. One useful resource is the Connecticut Lay-Off Survival Guide. This simple document can help you think through this difficult time. Good luck.