For businesses cutting workers’ pay to spread the economic pain of the coronavirus pandemic, what’s legally defensible may not be what’s fair.
That’s because any departure from across-the-board pay cut formulas, even to address a single worker’s dire family situation, could land employers in hot water with a potential discrimination lawsuit, attorneys said. If employers make any decision to make a narrower salary cut than an entire team or department, then those decisions should be properly justified, according to Alston & Bird partner Brett Coburn.
That holds true even if across-the-board cuts have the effect of widening existing pay gaps ...