David Scher, a Principal attorney at The Employment Law Group®, was quoted by Forbes, ‘Contagion’: Why Your Company Needs a Succession Plan. He discusses the importance of succession plans as a smart business practice. Scher says, “The purpose of a succession plan, which is also referred to as a redundancy plan, is to help less experienced employees develop themselves in management.” This works as a type of insurance to ensure the success of a company should something happen to a more experienced worker: “What happens is, when a more experienced worker does retire or move on, there’s now someone at the company who can pick up the slack because he or she has been trained to step into that position. It’s a back-up plan” but shouldn’t be confused with an exit strategy. “The question that companies need to ask, from an employment perspective, is ‘Do we have a plan in case a person- or several people- become permanently or medically unable to perform.”

However, this plan should not be used as a way to discriminate against the medically disabled. He also goes on to say, “Succession plans need to be legally compliant, and not be a way to discriminate based on illegal factors, such as age.” A company should protect itself from discrimination claims by maintaining good communication with employees and by openly discussing succession plans. Scher says that most importantly, “Succession plans need to be visible.”