2005 Workplace Survey Shows Decrease in Lawsuits
June 2006
Jackson Lewis, a national law firm representing
management in workplace issues, has released the 2005 findings from its annual
"on the job" survey.
by Paul
J. Siegel, Esq.
Jackson Lewis
LLP
The Jackson Lewis Workplace Survey was developed to chart trends and developments
in workplace law and related issues. In 2005 corporate attorneys and human resource
managers from large- and medium-sized companies participating in Jackson Lewis
workplace law conferences around the country answered questions about trends
and practices in their organizations. Among the most notable results are the
following:
-
The number of companies reporting workplace
lawsuits fell. In the 2005 survey when participants were asked, "Was
your company sued by an employee for any reason during the past year?",
49 percent answered affirmatively. This was an 8 percent decrease from similar
surveys conducted in 2004 and 2003—in both years 57 percent of those surveyed
said their organization had been sued by an employee.
-
Gender discrimination was the most frequent
claim in 2005. Of those who were sued, when asked the nature of the
claims, 51 percent cited gender discrimination. Race discrimination (45
percent), age discrimination (40 percent), disability discrimination (40
percent), and national origin discrimination (17 percent) were also reported.
These results were relatively unchanged from a similar survey conducted
in 2004.
-
Complaints of sexual harassment show steady
decrease. In 2005, 48 percent of those participating in the survey
said there were no complaints of sexual
harassment at their companies. In 2004, 44 percent of those polled said
there were no complaints of this nature and in 2003, 37 percent said they
did not have a sexual harassment complaint.
-
Sexual harassment prevention training for
supervisors reaches almost 90 percent. When asked if their companies
train supervisors to prevent sexual harassment, the vast majority (89 percent)
said "Yes." This was an increase from 81 percent in 2004 and 79 percent
in 2003 when participants were polled in similar surveys. When asked if
their companies provide mandatory prevention training for all employees, 56 percent of the 2005
participants indicated they did. This is generally unchanged from a 2004
survey when 57 percent of those polled said they trained all employees.
-
Drug and alcohol testing is commonplace. In 2005, 62 percent of those surveyed said they conduct drug and alcohol
testing. Of these, 91 percent test on a pre-hire basis. Most (69 percent)
said there was no change in the number of positive results from the previous
year. The most common method is urinalysis, cited by 55 percent of those
who test their employees.
-
Despite the low national unemployment rate,
human resource executives say job security is the most critical issue facing
the country. For the fifth consecutive year, job security was the
chief concern, cited by almost half (48 percent) of the 2005 survey respondents.
However, this is a substantial drop from 2004 when 66 percent identified
job security as the most critical national issue.
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