In yesterday’s Advisor, we shared some surprising results from Fulbright & Jaworski’s 7th Annual Litigation Trends Survey. Today, respondents’ views on electronic discovery and HR-related suits, and an introduction to the new training system that helps avoid litigation entirely.
[Go here for more survey results and details on the survey.]
Do you think the US rules of civil procedure should be modified in some way to limit electronic discovery in civil actions?
|
Company gross revenue |
Yes |
No |
|
Under 100 million |
41 |
59 |
|
100 million to 999 million |
80 |
20 |
|
$1 billion or more |
79 |
21 |
When preserving potentially relevant information in litigation or an investigation, what methods do you use most frequently for preserving electronically stored information?
|
Rely on individual custodian to identify and preserve their own information |
55% |
|
Suspend automatic deletion processes as needed |
55% |
|
Preserve everything in a searchable database |
54% |
|
Use automated search software |
43% |
|
Other |
2% |
(Percents add to more than 100 as participants could pick more than one type.)
Half of the largest companies and mid-sized companies preserve everything in a searchable database. Smaller companies are much more likely to preserve everything in a searchable database and much less likely to use automated search software than the mid-sized and the largest companies.
The financial services industry is by far the most likely to preserve everything in a searchable database and to use automated search software.
To what extent do you believe the legal guidance regarding a the duty to preserve electronic and other material in anticipation of an investigation or litigation provides sufficient clarity regarding the scope of material that must be preserved?”
|
Is sufficiently clear |
26% |
|
Needs some clarification |
43% |
|
Needs substantial clarification |
25% |
|
Don’t know |
5% |
Unlimited employee HR training—one low cost—no setup, no software to install. Find out why the Software & Information Industry Association just voted the BLR Employee Training Center the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Go here for more information or to sign up.
How has the volume of multi-plaintiff cases (class, collective or significant multiple plaintiff actions) cases changed (increase/decrease/neither) in various areas of labor and employment law over the past 12 months?
Wage and hour disputes (FLSA). A quarter of the largest companies have experienced increases, returning to the 2008 level after a slight dip last year. Sectors with the most widespread increases over last year are real estate and financial services.
Race discrimination. Just 7% of all respondents report an increase in race discrimination disputes, down from 10% last year.
Sex discrimination. These cases are also down noticeably from 2009. Just 6% of the largest companies report increases compared with 16% last year, and 7% of all public companies versus 12% last year.
Age discrimination. Both increases and decreases in age discrimination cases are fairly consistent with the past two surveys. Health care and insurance have had the largest reductions from 2009, while retail/wholesale respondents with increases are consistent with the 2009 level.
Disability discrimination. There is a slight decline in these cases, particularly among the largest companies, with 9% reporting increases. Retail /wholesale remains the sector most prone to disability discrimination disputes.
Religious discrimination. There is little change in the incidence of these cases from last year, with just 2% of respondents citing either an increase or decrease.
ERISA cases. These have returned to 2008 levels with 7% of all respondents reporting increases, almost double last year’s figure. Increases in the energy and retail/wholesale are in the low double digits.
Traditional labor union matters. Companies with increases in labor union matters are up significantly this year. Respondents reporting increases have doubled among public companies and the largest companies surveyed (to 15% and 17%, respectively). Sectors with the largest increases are manufacturing, health care, energy and financial services.
What do the results of the survey mean for HR managers? Probably the most helpful take-away is that lawsuits aren’t going away. And that means more training—the only meaningful lawsuit prevention strategy. Training every supervisor and manager.
Even with the best of intentions, supervisors and managers will get the company into hot water—unless they are trained. Unfortunately, up until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—BLR’s editors have developed a unique new program that’s done all that work for you.
It’s called the Employee Training Center. This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.
No time to prepare or deliver training? With the BLR® Employee Training Center, your employees can start taking essential training courses the same day you sign up. Workers (and supervisors) train at their convenience, 24/7. We track, and you save with this turnkey solution. Yes, it really can be this simple. Learn more.
The Employee Training Center automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject, or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.
Unlimited Training That Won’t Bust the Budget
Best of all, in these budget-crunching times, the BLR Employee Training Center costs only a fraction of what you would pay for a learning management system (LMS). You always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use, or how many times you use them. There’s just one low annual fee—for unlimited training—calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!
These are all motivational, actionable courses—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, FMLA, diversity, communication, USERRA, recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes, and what’s more, BLR adds new programs continually.
The BLR Employee Training Center also includes a selection of safety courses—you decide whether you want just the HR courses, the safety courses, or both HR and safety.
If it sounds as if we’re excited about this new service, well, we are—and so is the Software & Information Industry Association, which just voted the BLR Employee Training Center the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Find out what all the buzz is about—sign up for a no-obligation trial to Employee Training Center.