Employment-At-Will Doctrine - Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance

An “at will” employee is an employee who agreed to a contract in which they can be fired at any time, for almost any reason. The law generally presumes that employees are employed at will unless they can prove otherwise.

| |How might managers in an organization use knowledge of employment-at-will and its exceptions | | |

In the state of Maryland, all employment is considered “at-will”. From the text, the definition of at-will employment is employers have the “…discretion to fire employees ‘for a good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all.’” (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012) From Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, employment at will is defined as “In Maryland, employees work "at the will" of their employers. This means, in the absence of an express contract, agreement or policy to the contrary, an employee may be hired or fired for almost any reason -- whether fair or not -- or for no reason at all.” (https://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wagepay/wpatwill.shtml) Because of the employment at will doctrine, people risk losing their jobs for

It will be documented that Jennifer took a day off in tax season without management consent. Her supervisor will discuss with her how much she is needed and how busy the firm is. As supervisors we will gather and discuss the situation. If she is granted another chance, there will not be another one for Jennifer in

When we are dealing with the employment relationship between employers and employees, ethical issues are most likely to emerge. Especially, if a manager fires a worker without a proper reason, critics will follow this employer’s behavior. In Patricia Werhane’s paper, “Employment at Will and Due Process”, discusses two doctrines which are Employment at Will (EAW) and Due Process. It also addresses some justifications and objections for EAW, and shows Werhane’s supportive view to Due Process. In contrast, EAW is defended by Richard Epstein in his article “In Defense of the Contract at Will”. In my paper, I will attempt to develop my argument in favor of Employment at Will that could improve flexibility and efficiency of

In Ohio, an employer may terminate an at-will employee for any reason. Greeley v. Miami Valley Maint. Contractors, Inc., 551 N.E.2d 981, 981 (Ohio 1990). However, an exception to this rule is that an employer may not terminate an at-will employee when the termination violates public policy. Stephenson v. Litton Sys., Inc., 646 N.E.2d 259, 261 (Ohio Ct. App. 1994).

The at-will employment doctrine is the belief that employers have the right to fire anyone at any time for any reason,

The term "at will" applies both to the person hired and to the person who does the hiring. As the term suggests, both parties have the ability to end the employment whenever they wish because there are no "strings" attached to it (Employee Issues, 2012). In a normal contract situation, a person is employed for a specified amount of time and the individual knows that as long as a contract is in force what is expected and the remuneration that comes with the employment. This type of contract comes with a guarantee of employment as long as the individual meets the requirements of the contract. A contract also guarantees the employer that the employee has to fulfill certain obligations by law. In the case of "at will" employment, there is no contract signed by either party. Even though the employee may interview and have to fill out certain paperwork to obtain the job, they are not contracted for the work. The employee is hired with the understanding that they can leave employment at any time and that the employer can do the same. This also means that the employer is free to change the specifications of the job any time they will (Employee Issues, 2012). Another facet of this type of employment is that the employer is free to choose the type of employee they want. Even if a policy seems discriminatory, the employer is able to apply it if it does not in some way violate the law. As a final note on the definition of such employment, employers will generally

Exceptions to employment at will include federal and state laws, collective bargaining agreements through unions and associations, employment contracts in certain industries and organizations, implied contracts usually derived from employer handbook, public policy of most states, statutory protections against discrimination and covenant of good faith and fair dealing (Nyce and Bodenner, 2016). There is also recourse for employees who feel that their employers have treated them unjustly even in situations where the employer has the right to exercise employment at will. This recourse may be within the company itself or through the state and federal justice

Based on facts and legal laws, the judge can look over the evidence and rules and make a decision. The employment-at-will doctrine clearly states that the employer can fire the employee at any time for any reason. There are many exceptions to the employment-at-will

Employment at will is essentially a rule that strips employees and employers from their rights to due process when it comes to workplace termination. Under this principle employers may let any person go for any reason at any time during their employment with or without just cause. Your stature at the company, time worked, personal conduct; none of those things have to be taken into consideration if you are let go. This means that if an employee does not agree with their grounds for termination, they have no legal right to fight it in a court of law. Employment at will also allows employees to quit their job at any time, again regardless of having just reasoning or not. The only case where an employment at will principle would not apply is if an employee, when hired, signed a document that stipulates other specific terms and conditions regarding grounds for termination/quitting. An important thing to make note of is just as if an employee had signed a contract, they are made aware before being brought on full time, that they are an “at will” employee. These soon to be employees are voluntarily signing that they abide by what is defined in the employment at will principle.

Since the 19th century, America's employment philosophy has traditionally been what was ref erred to as employment-at-will. It basis is found on two of America's enduring founding structures. For example, the laissez-faire concept of the free market philosophy, and the traditional principle of democracy—of personal liberty as embodied in the constitution. Like two sides of the same coin, the free-market and the constitution, each in its way views the employer/employee relationship to be on equal a footing. By definition, "an employment-at-will is a legal rule…giving employers' unfettered power to 'dismiss their employees for good cause, no

The Employment-at-Will clause means that the employer and employee have a standing agreement that either party can terminate at any time, with or without cause and with or without notice. The employer’s perspective would include some restrictions and rules that they must follow, so the employment-at-will principle is not truly equal or balanced. The employer must follow state and Federal laws and regulations and cannot terminate if for any of these reasons: Filing a workman’s comp claim, filing a safety complaint with OSHA, military requirements, jury duty, refusing to subject oneself to sexual advances, whistle blowing and other items of this nature. The employee’s perspective would be that they are free to quit or terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason. Most employees will offer to work after giving a two week notice, but either party can end the relationship that day if they see fit. This would not necessarily be a smart move in some cases, because the employee would most likely be classified as not rehire-able

The employment at will doctrine is such that, an employer can terminate an employee, at any time and for any cause, or no cause at all. Employment at will employees do not have an agreement and surety of continued employment, which is an issue of employee rights. There are several employee's right issues at workplaces; among which, one of the biggest issue of employees is their uncertainty towards their length of work employment. This leads to a lack of job security and an unsafe, and an unfair working environment for the employee. An employee should be able to enjoy basic employee rights. They should be able to participate and be informed about what is happening, in the workplace. Moreover, they should have the right to privacy, which

Employee discipline is a concept that could automatically set a negative tone in the workplace. Ideally in a perfect world the workplace would be conflict free and every employee would be the perfect employee. However, unfortunately there probably is not a thing as perfect world. Employee discipline method that can be used by organizational leaders on trying to utilize various methods to help promote and encourage orderly conduct in the workplace. According to Zachary (2013), an organization should have the proper systems in place that helps to encourage proper behavior in the workplace. The right methods to be used to change that behavior if it negatively impacts the organization. In situations where discipline is required the HR perspective would be the type of “punishment” that might have to be administered by HR managers this could often times be unpleasant for both the administrator and the employee. Whether it is dismissing the employee. Perhaps suspending the employee. Even just a written warning. Regardless of the intensity of the punishment it requires that leadership utilize the right methods to help ensure that minimum fallout transpires from the discipline that is used.