When Savings Aren’t Savings
By Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle, Esq.
When employers cut costs, the wrong cuts can get expensive fast.
As employers head into the second quarter of 2026, a lot of businesses are in the same mode: cut costs, stay lean, keep moving. The problem is that some ‘savings’ decisions don’t save anything; they just shift the spend from payroll to legal fees, investigations, back pay, and distraction. Here are five cost-cutting moves I’m seeing right now that can blow up fast, and what to watch before you make them.
1. Cutting Payroll by Restructuring Too Fast
Layoffs, role consolidations, and schedule cuts are classic budget levers. They’re also where employers make avoidable mistakes. Massachusetts final-pay rules are strict, and wage and hour claims can come with automatic treble damages. If you’re moving fast, slow down just enough to get the basics right: final pay timing, earned vacation where required, clean documentation, and accurate time records.
2. Reclassifying Employees as 1099s to Save on Benefits and Taxes
This one looks like an easy win on a spreadsheet. In practice, it’s a liability magnet. Massachusetts uses a tough independent contractor standard (the ABC test), and misclassification can trigger wage claims, tax exposure, and insurance issues all at once. If the job walks and talks like employment with a set schedule, supervision, and core business work, then the 1099 label won’t hold.
3. Handling Complaints Off the Record (and Triggering Claims)
When budgets tighten, HR becomes everyone’s side job. That’s when a small issue turns into a big one. Many retaliation claims start with a simple complaint about wages, safety, leave, or discrimination/harassment, followed by a rushed manager move: hours cut, schedule changed, discipline, or termination without a clear record. And if you treat similar employees differently (or a decision hits a protected group harder), you’ve also created discrimination risk. The low-cost fix is boring but effective: consistent process, tight documentation, and manager discipline.
4. Treating Accommodations as ‘Nice to Have’ to Keep Staffing Efficient
When every head-count line matters, accommodation requests can feel like operational chaos. But obligations for disability, pregnancy, mental health, and schedule flexibility are expanding, and Massachusetts law is more strict, and accommodation requirements are broader, than federal law. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act adds another layer. The cheapest path is a consistent, documented interactive process. The expensive path is a quick ‘no,’ a delay, or radio silence.
“The problem is that some ‘savings’ decisions don’t save anything; they just shift the spend from payroll to legal fees, investigations, back pay, and distraction.”
5. Cutting Website Spend (and Getting Tagged with an Accessibility Demand)
Website updates are often first on the chopping block. Plaintiffs’ firms know it, and they look for easy targets: missing alt text, inaccessible menus, unlabeled forms, and non-compliant PDFs. Massachusetts is a hotspot for ADA website accessibility claims, and there’s no small business exemption. Basic fixes usually cost far less than responding to a demand letter or lawsuit.
Where Smart Prevention Pays Off
Even in a cost-cutting cycle, a few targeted investments pay for themselves because they prevent the disputes that drain time, money, and leadership bandwidth:
• Payroll and classification audits catch problems before they become claims (and stop payroll leakage).
• Manager training prevents the one bad conversation that turns into a retaliation or leave claim.
• Structured accommodation processes improve retention and reduce ‘quick no’ risk.
• Website accessibility updates reduce demand-letter exposure and improve usability (and often SEO).
• Simple documentation habits make decisions defensible and keep issues from snowballing.
• Fractional general counsel support gives you a senior legal sounding board without the full-time overhead. Just make the phone call so you catch risk early, negotiate smarter, and avoid emergency outside-counsel spend.
Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle
“Even in a cost-cutting cycle, a few targeted investments pay for themselves because they prevent the disputes that drain time, money, and leadership bandwidth.”
Why Fractional General Counsel Is a Cost-control Move
A fractional general counsel is designed for businesses that need experienced legal coverage, but don’t need (or can’t justify) a full-time inhouse hire. The ROI is straightforward: you’re buying fewer surprises and faster, cleaner decisions.
Here’s what that looks like in real life and where engaging a fractional GC typically pays for itself:
• Restructure triage before you push ‘send.’ Use sanity-checking layoff selections, documentation, and final-pay steps so a cost-cutting RIF doesn’t turn into a wage claim or discrimination case.
• Clean up classification before it becomes back pay. Review a ‘convert to 1099’ plan and flag the roles that fail the ABC test so you fix the model (or pricing) before you create misclassification exposure.
• Stop the retaliation claim at the manager level. Step in when a complaint comes in to script the next steps (what to document, what not to say, and what actions to pause), so a simple issue doesn’t become a termination plus a lawsuit storyline.
• Replace one-off legal fires with reusable tools. Build offer letter language, separation checklists, accommodation forms, and investigation templates so you’re not paying outside counsel to reinvent the wheel.
• Create contract and vendor leverage. Tighten vendor terms (auto-renew, indemnity, limitation of liability, data/security) and negotiate faster, avoiding the ‘sign now, fix later’ premium.
• Ensure accessibility demand readiness. Create a response plan and coordinate quick remediation so a demand letter doesn’t spiral into expensive, time-sensitive outside counsel work.
• Focus on cost avoidance. Spot wage-and-hour, leave, classification, and documentation issues early before they become claims, audits, or back pay.
• Reduce outside counsel spend. Reserve outside counsel for true specials (litigation and complex deals), not routine day-to-day calls.
• Make faster decisions. Get real-time guidance on terminations, restructures, policies, and vendor contracts so leadership doesn’t stall or improvise.
• Create cleaner documentation. Tighten records, templates, and manager practices so your decisions hold up if challenged.
• Make better risk tradeoffs. When you do take risk, do it with eyes open and with a plan.
For Massachusetts employers trying to lower overhead without creating new liability, the goal is simple: don’t ‘save’ money today and spend more money tomorrow cleaning up the fallout. A little structure, plus the right legal support at the right time, goes a long way.
Five Quick Fixes to Reduce Risks and Save Money Now
1. Audit Payroll and Timekeeping. Spend 30 minutes pressure-testing overtime calculations, meal break deductions, and final-pay procedures, and make sure your handbook explains the your compliant procedures properly. This is one of the most expensive categories of Massachusetts employment claims.
2. Re-evaluate Contractor Classifications. Apply the state’s strict ABC test to every 1099 role. Fixing misclassification early beats defending it later.
3. Train Frontline Managers. Most retaliation and accommodation claims start with one poorly handled conversation. Short, targeted training reduces risk fast.
4. Document the Accommodation Process. Use a simple, repeatable form to track ADA and pregnancy-related requests. Consistency is one of your strongest defenses.
5. Fix Website Accessibility Basics. Add alt text, label forms, caption videos, and update PDFs. These are low-cost improvements that can reduce ADA exposure and improve customer reach.
Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle is a local business and labor & employment attorney operating as fractional general counsel for businesses in the New England area; [email protected]; (413) 369-9220; www.gcbycannon.com
