With the economy slowing down and pink slips flying, companies are becoming more vulnerable to lawsuits filed by disgruntled employees.

Need damage control? Scendis, a work force training and consulting firm, has some ideas, especially about keeping your staff trained to prevent layoff-related problems before they come up. To help develop its products, last year Scendis won $7.3 million in venture capital to develop a line of Web-based training software that can cut a company’s training costs by as much as 50 percent.

"One of the reasons companies get sued and get in trouble is because training in a classroom is very expensive, so they don’t train the whole work force. We realized that a lot of those companies just didn’t have the budget. We found a way to deliver inexpensive training online," says co-CEO Lynne Revo-Cohen.

Clients such as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and Mitsubishi have benefited from Scendis’ assessment services. To help businesses prevent potential problems, Scendis offers these 10 tips for both before and after layoffs.

— Catherine Leitch

 1. Evaluate your hiring plan before defining your layoff plan. If you’ve hired unevenly, you may layoff unevenly, leading to a "disparate impact" lawsuit.

2. Build a business plan for your layoff. Being clear about your layoff objectives will prevent "disparate treatment" lawsuits.

3. Train managers who will execute the layoff plan. The application of the plan will be looked at by any court.

4. Look at options to "soften the blow." Severance packages including limited continuation of health care benefits, outplacement services or other good will efforts will help convey your concern about the well being of individuals laid off.

5. Clearly define accountability for all managers who execute layoffs. Put the plan in writing and ensure consistent treatment across all departments.

6. Communicate the big picture reasons for the layoff to the staff. Do not communicate individual reasons for layoffs but stress what the company is doing to improve the situation.

7. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Assurances that "this is the last round of layoffs" can later haunt you.

8. Communicate the impact of the layoff on remaining employees. Let them know how much additional work they face and make sure managers pitch in.

9. Implement an internal communications plan. Avoid having your employees learn of the company’s problems in the newspaper or through rumor mills.