[apparent]

What country are you in?

And when you say "I need to know" do you mean you want to know, or you are legally compelled to make decisions based on these criteria?

Why do you fear lawsuits from parents as opposed to single people? Are there grounds for a lawsuit that involve whether someone is a parent?

[em-bee]

i am talking about germany, but i believe this is true for many european companies. i am legally compelled to not dismiss people if that causes social/financial hardship for them, when i could dismiss other people who would face less hardship.

basically i need to consider three factors: how long they already worked in my company, how old they are, and their family situation, whether they have dependents.

failure to consider these risks a lawsuit making the dismissal invalid.

this of course does not apply to dismissals that are related to bad behavior or lack of qualification.

on the other side: unique qualifications that i need to keep my business running are also exempt even if that person otherwise would be the one facing the least hardship from a dismissal.

[tpm]

It's not like that in Slovakia afaik. There is no legal obligation to not dismiss people if that causes social/financial hardship for them. I'd think it's also similar in other Eastern European countries. It's pretty hard though to force someone out if they did nothing wrong, so that fact alone is very protective for employees.