The analysis of claims brought to Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions around the country for 2007 are in. Pregnancy discrimination claims reached an unprecedented high with nearly 5,600 charges being brought. Racial discrimination claims reached a new high of 30,510, which surpassed last year's claims by 12% and is a high that hasn't been seen since 1994. And retaliation, sex, disability and age discrimination claims were also at new highs.

Legal commentators often speculate that during times of economic uncertainty, the lack of job alternatives can result in the prosecution of workplace claims that might otherwise go unreported. What this means to some business owners is that if you are engaging in unfair and unlawful hiring and employment practices, you must stop because your bad actions could cost you your business. And what this means to a larger number of American employers is that during uncertain economic times, employees will likely object to perceptions of being treated unfairly or wrongly with legal vigor.

What to do? Safe-proofing your work environment from meritless employment law claims is as easy as 1-2-3. Compliance, consistency, and good communication are key to assuring employee satisfaction that they are being treated fairly and lawfully.

Compliance can be accomplished through updating and adhering workplace practices so that they comply with handbook and other written policies which meet current labor and employment law requirements. Compliance is also achieved by assuring that day-to-day employment practices serve as proof that all applicants and employees are treated fairly and equally and all have the same opportunities for advancement and for enjoying the benefits of loyalty and satisfactory job performance.

Practicing consistency in applying workplace rules and exceptions to everyone should always serve as a basic rule of thumb for organizational leaders. While it is not always possible to manage all work issues identically, exceptions to usual and customary practices should only be extended after great consideration and only when distinguishing circumstances exist. And in every case, practices should comply with current law and written workplace policies and procedures.

Good communication is essential to successfully navigating all workplace concerns/disputes. Of course "open door " policies which provide employees the opportunity to discuss concerns with the confidence that any and all managers of an organization are empowered to effectively address problems is best. But when an "open door" policy is not possible (due to the size or physical set-up of a workplace), then managers must be properly trained to listen to and resolve employee concerns effectively so as to facilitate ongoing employee trust and job satisfaction.