What is the employment at-will doctrine in the United States, and what are some of the major exceptions to the doctrine? How might the employment at-will doctrine engender a legal but immoral discharge? (based on Legal Challenges text Chapter 21 and Business Ethics text Chapter 16, Parts I and II; tied to course competencies 1, 2, 3, and 4)…
Employment relationships are presumed to be “at-will” in all U.S. states except Montana. The U.S. is one of a handful of countries where employment is predominantly at-will. Most countries throughout the world allow employers to dismiss employees only for cause. Some reasons given for our retention of the at-will presumption include respect for freedom of contract, employer deference, and the belief that both employers and employees favor an at-will employment relationship over job security.…
References: Muhl, J. (2001) The employment-at-will doctrine: three major exceptions Retrieved April 13, 2012 from findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1153/is_1_124/ai_71704724…
Under the legal doctrine of “employment at will” an employee can be lawfully terminated from her job for:…
Reasonable accommodation of a religious belief must be made by the employer if such accommodation does not compromise the rights of others does not require lots of cash.…
"Employment tribunals were established under the Industrial Training Act 1964. They were previously referred to as Industrial Tribunals, but their name was changed by s1 of the Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998, which took effect on 1 August 1998"(J.Nairns,2011,p.6). Now, HM Courts & Tribunals Service which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, supervise employment tribunals. Employment tribunals are constituted on the basis of region. In England and Wales, there are 11 regional offices of the Employment Tribunals(ROETs). There is Regional Office in each region which copes with claims from applicants in that geographical area. "Any appeal from the Employment Tribunal would be heard in the EAT(Employment Appeal Tribunal), from there by the Court of Appeal and then the House of Lords"(J.Nairns,2011,p.6). There are 9 offices of the Employment Tribunals(OETs) which are subordinating to specific ROETs where hearings occur. Nevertheless, OETs are administered by the relevant ROET under the auspices of the regional Chairman(Dennis Hunt, 2005). The jurisdiction of employment tribunals was not completely statutory until the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994. "When an employee is dismissed, she may well have a claim for breach of the contract of employment as well as a claim for unfair dismissal and it seemed absurd that the two claims could not both be brought in the same court. The problem was highlighted when the Wages Act 1986 was passed and apparently provided an avenue for bringing contract claims in rocketed, indicating the need for such a mechanism"(Gwyneth Pitt, 2004, p.14). That's why employment tribunals created.…
Statistics reveal that approximately four out of every one hundred workers are fired or resign from their jobs each month, and an estimated one million workers are fired from their jobs each year (S.M. SACK 99). Many people who are fired are done so unlawfully. When a company terminates an employee unlawfully it can create astronomical financial burdens from lawsuits filed by these employees. In today 's society employees have many rights and are protected by laws. Managers must understand these laws in order to protect themselves and their companies from such…
The Epmloyee Free Choice Act has been a hot topic within the past few years. It has been pushed through congress several times, with hopes to change the way unions get organized. Within the next few pages, this paper will describe what a union is and how it is started, what the Employee Free Choice Act entails, how it will change our system, and the arguements for and against passing this bill. The EFCA is a system that will protect employee rights and break the bad habit of unfair union elections that our legal system has allowed throughout the years.…
In the working world today there may be some who believe that common sense and compassion in the workplace leave no need for litigation. Some may feel as if morale is all that is needed to protect employers and employees of organizations. This is not the case by far. Although it is expected for employees in most environments to have compassion, common sense, and morale, not all employees turn out to be who they were expected to be. Litigation does replace common sense and compassion in the working world today. This is why regulations have been put in place by the U.S. Department of Labor, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Regulations have been put in place to protect both employees and employers from being fired or mistreated for discriminative reasons or from lawsuits. Laws regarding the proper treatment of employees must be legally enforced and without enforcement there will always be someone to break the law.…
There are three exceptions to the employment-at-will application within any organization; public policy, implied-contract, and covenant-of-good faith. These limits protect the employee from being fired for getting hurt on the job, or if there is a sign contract between the employee and employer that employer has to adhere to that contract. Companies have to abide by these guidelines by law to provide fair treatment to employees. Once these limits are not applied it leaves the company open for possible law suits and loss of trust from employees. One example we’ve heard in the news for years is the treatment of employees of Wal-Mart. It was a huge case which cost the company a lot of money.…
Employment laws play a critical role in human resources management strategies and in an organization operation. Employee laws are design to protect the employees by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) “ federal enforcement agency enacted to ensure that employers follow and abide by rules set forth in the Civil Rights Acts of 1964”(Web Finance, 2012). However, the act insisted of “people should be given the same opportunities and equal changes to obtain employment regardless of their color, race, gender, national origin, or religion” (Stewart & Brown, 2012, pg. 80).…
1. How is employment-at-will applied in your organization or in one with which you are familiar? To what extent do the exceptions to employment-at-will limit its application in the organization? How might managers in the organization use knowledge of employment-at-will and its exceptions to protect the interests of the organization?…
References: Summers, C. (2000). Journal of Labor and Employment Law. Employment at Will: The Devine Rights of Employers (Vol. 3, p. 65). Philadelphia, PA: U. Pa. J. Lab. & Emp. L.…
The focus of this paper will be to show how an employee would take a discrimination complaint against his or her employer. The process will be explored from where one would begin with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and proceeds through the civil litigation process from the state level up to the United States Supreme Court. In the examination of this scenario, it becomes necessary to define two key terms: discrimination and civil litigation.…
The moral doctrine of the dignity of man and his consequent rights is extremely important to the social order; for as we shall show later. It is this very principle of human rights which determines and defines the proper relations that should exist among members of society; as for example the relations between the individual citizen and the state, between employer and employee, landlord and tenant, and even between parents and children in a family. In industrial ethics, involving capital and labor relations, for instance, there is a question as to how the employer should treat his workers? The answer is derived from the doctrine of human rights; that the working man is…