1. Making Tough Personnel Decisions in a Global Recession: Doing it Right and Minimizing Liability European Session March 25, 2009 If you are unable to listen to the webinar through your computer, please call: 1-408-792-6300, enter Event No. 663 040 350## and you will be connected by phone. If you are experiencing any other technical difficulty, please contact Technical Support toll-free at 1-866-229-3239, Option #1. 1

2. Presenters Moderator – Stephen J. Hirschfeld CEO, Employment Law Alliance, San Francisco, CA shirschfeld@employmentlawalliance.com shirschfeld@employmentlawalliance.com Andrzej Czopski, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.L.C., Warszawa, Poland czopski@pl.millercanfield.com czopski@pl.millercanfield.com Julian Feichtinger, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati, Vienna, Austria julian.feichtinger@chsh.at julian.feichtinger@chsh.at Olle Jansson, Cederquist, Stockholm, Sweden olle.jansson@cederquist.se olle.jansson@cederquist.se Kalina Jaroslawska, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.L.C., Warszawa, Poland jaroslawska@pl.millercanfield.com jaroslawska@pl.millercanfield.com Barbara Klinger, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati, Vienna, Austria barbara.klinger@chsh.at barbara.klinger@chsh.at Alexander Krausz, Froriep Renggli, Zurich, Switzerland akrausz@froriep.ch akrausz@froriep.ch 2

3. Presenters Jan Tibor Lelley, Buse Heberer Fromm, Essen, Germany lelley@buse.de lelley@buse.de Ian Moore, A&L Goodbody, Dublin, Ireland imoore@algoodbody.ie imoore@algoodbody.ie Eugenie Nunes, Boekel De Nerée, Amsterdam, the Netherlands eugenie.nunes@bdn.nl eugenie.nunes@bdn.nl Sasha Stepanova, Kocian Solc Balastik, Prague, Czech Republic sstepanova@ksb.cz sstepanova@ksb.cz Claire Toumieux, Flichy Grangé Avocats, Paris, France toumieux@flichy.com toumieux@flichy.com Chris Van Olmen, Van Olmen Wynant, Brussels, Belgium chris.van.olmen@vow.be chris.van.olmen@vow.be Barry Walsh, A&L Goodbody, Dublin, Ireland bwalsh@algoodbody.ie bwalsh@algoodbody.ie Angelo Zambelli, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Milan, Italy azambelli@dl.com azambelli@dl.com 3

4. INTRODUCTION and OVERVIEW 4

5. Layoff Decisions How Companies Are Saving Money on Personnel Costs Short of Layoffs What are the legal challenges to implementing these decisions? Reducing overtime; Hiring freezes; Salary freezes; Salary reductions; Furloughs; Temporary shutdowns; Work-sharing arrangements; Shortened work weeks or workdays; Eliminating training programs; Boosting healthcare premiums; Creating incentives for employees to voluntarily resign or retire. 5

6. Layoff Decisions How To Make These Decisions Bullet Proof What are the biggest challenges when making these decisions? What are the most common legal claims being asserted today on behalf of laid off workers and how could they have been avoided? 6

7. Separation Agreements and Releases Are they commonly used in your country? Are they enforceable? What must these agreements contain? What should these agreements contain? Must an employee be given advance notice before signing such an agreement? Are there any specific issues in your jurisdiction? 7

8. Severance Pay and Benefits Does your country have statutory severance pay requirements? If so, what do I need to know? Does your country require that certain benefits continue following termination? Do your clients typically provide severance pay and enhanced benefits beyond what is required by law? What kind of circumstances? Do you require that a release be signed? Are your clients using “stay until close” bonuses and if so, what challenges are they facing? 8

9. Advance Notice for Terminations Does your country require that employees receive a certain amount of advance notice before a layoff? Are there any exceptions? If there is a trade union or works council involved, what does the law require you to do? 9

10. How are your clients coordinating the implementation of worldwide layoffs? 10

11. Lessons Learned from Bad Personnel Decisions Made During Tough Economic Times What should have been done differently? 11

12. CONCLUSION Immediately following the webinar, after you disconnect, a survey will automatically appear on your computer screen asking you to evaluate the webinar. We would appreciate you taking a few minutes to complete it so that we can continue to improve the quality and delivery of future ELA-sponsored webinars. Thank you for attending our webinar. Please visit our website at: www.employmentlawalliance.com for more resources and to listen to past webinars.www.employmentlawalliance.com 12