The recession has many people feeling like they’re living the life of characters in the anti­corporate movie “Office Space,” with consultants and windows 7 ultimate iso oem download managers looking to cut costs everywhere possible and workers fretting over furloughs, pay cuts and windows 7 ultimate iso oem download layoffs.

For employers, these cost-cutting measures involve plenty of potential legal pitfalls, including companies getting sued for windows 7 ultimate iso oem download targeting a specific group or type of worker with layoffs, and windows 7 ultimate iso oem download businesses being forced to shift all of their workers to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download an hourly pay basis because salaried workers were checking their business e-mail or windows 7 ultimate iso oem download voice mail while on mandated furloughs.

A number of Valley employers — including Arizona State University and The Arizona Republic — have windows 7 ultimate iso oem download put workers on forced unpaid leave to save money. The biggest legal problem related to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download furloughs is that employers might get in trouble with the U.S. Department of Labor if salaried workers do any kind of work during that windows 7 ultimate iso oem download forced off-time, said Christy Hubbard, an employment attorney with Phoenix-based law firm Lewis and windows 7 ultimate iso oem download Roca LLP.

Hubbard said salaried workers who windows 7 ultimate iso oem download do a glimmer of work during their unpaid furloughs — including checking e-mail or voice mail — can windows 7 ultimate iso oem download spark complaints to the DOL or lawsuits. Those actions can lead to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download businesses losing their ability to employ salaried workers and force them to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download pay hourly wages, even to professional staff. Such a circumstance could be windows 7 ultimate iso oem download a big hit to businesses, as it would require them to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download pay overtime and track hourly work.

“You have to be doing it right, or you are violating the law,” Hubbard said.

Many businesses — including those in the troubled construction and financial sectors — have cut workers’ pay across the windows 7 ultimate iso oem download board by 5 percent or 10 percent. Others are encouraging employees to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download take surplus vacation time to reduce payout costs. Still others are windows 7 ultimate iso oem download laying people off.

When it windows 7 ultimate iso oem download comes to layoffs or pay cuts, employers need to make sure those actions don’t target classes of workers protected by federal discrimination laws, such as older workers, women or windows 7 ultimate iso oem download minorities.

Dona Nutini, an windows 7 ultimate iso oem download employment attorney with the Phoenix law office of Polsinelli Shughart PC, said employers’ biggest mistakes when windows 7 ultimate iso oem download it comes to layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs is that windows 7 ultimate iso oem download they fail to communicate with employees. Frustrations are exacerbated by dictums from windows 7 ultimate iso oem download headquarters rather than direct communication from local managers.

“The biggest problem is that (companies) don’t communicate with their employees,” Nutini said. “They don’t keep them in the loop.”

She said things like Friday layoffs and windows 7 ultimate iso oem download short notices lead to staff frustrations that can lead to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download discrimination claims, other lawsuits or unionization efforts.

Nutini, former staff counsel with the windows 7 ultimate iso oem download National Labor Relations Board, said businesses need to be able to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download prove their cuts are not discriminatory.

Mike Tope, CEO of Creative Business Resources, a windows 7 ultimate iso oem download Phoenix-based consulting and human resources firm, said that’s the biggest legal challenge for employers facing staff cutbacks.

“Layoffs usually cause the windows 7 ultimate iso oem download most legal problems if the terminated employees feel they were discriminated against,” Tope said.

Both Tope and windows 7 ultimate iso oem download Nutini said employers need to document and quantify their actions to windows 7 ultimate iso oem download protect against costly lawsuits.