Employment-at-Will Doctrine
Employment-At-Will Doctrine
Law and Ethics in the Business Environment
The concept of employment-at-will holds that both employer and employee have the mutual right to terminate an employment relationship anytime for any reason and with or without advance notice to the other. Specifically, it holds that an organization employs an individual at its own will and can, therefore, terminate that employee at any time “for a good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong, without being thereby guilty of a legal wrong” (p.49). Over the last two decades, however, terminated employees have challenged the employment-at-will doctrine by filing lawsuits against former employers on the grounds of wrongful discharge. However, in the last several years, such suits have put limits on employment-at-will provisions in certain circumstances. For example, organizations were guilty of firing employees who filed workers’ compensation claims or took excessive time off to serve on jury duty. More recently, however, the courts have ruled that employees may not be fired for exercising rights protected by law. Those protected rights are covered by a few exceptions such as public-policy exception, implied-contract exception and covenant-of-good-faith exception. In this paper discussed will be four scenarios as they relate to employment-at-will doctrine and liability of an employer based on actions and responses to employee’s behavior and actions.
1. Describe what steps you would take to address the following scenario involving skills, competence, and abilities? The first scenario deals with competency and ability issues in individuals, not being able to perform a job successfully. The problem at hand is that a newly hired employee is not able to effectively complete job functions related to the position. For several months now this employee has failed to perform at the level she was hired for. However, in spite of this the employee insists that she is a good
Law and Ethics in the Business Environment
The concept of employment-at-will holds that both employer and employee have the mutual right to terminate an employment relationship anytime for any reason and with or without advance notice to the other. Specifically, it holds that an organization employs an individual at its own will and can, therefore, terminate that employee at any time “for a good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong, without being thereby guilty of a legal wrong” (p.49). Over the last two decades, however, terminated employees have challenged the employment-at-will doctrine by filing lawsuits against former employers on the grounds of wrongful discharge. However, in the last several years, such suits have put limits on employment-at-will provisions in certain circumstances. For example, organizations were guilty of firing employees who filed workers’ compensation claims or took excessive time off to serve on jury duty. More recently, however, the courts have ruled that employees may not be fired for exercising rights protected by law. Those protected rights are covered by a few exceptions such as public-policy exception, implied-contract exception and covenant-of-good-faith exception. In this paper discussed will be four scenarios as they relate to employment-at-will doctrine and liability of an employer based on actions and responses to employee’s behavior and actions.
1. Describe what steps you would take to address the following scenario involving skills, competence, and abilities? The first scenario deals with competency and ability issues in individuals, not being able to perform a job successfully. The problem at hand is that a newly hired employee is not able to effectively complete job functions related to the position. For several months now this employee has failed to perform at the level she was hired for. However, in spite of this the employee insists that she is a good
References: Broemmel, M. (2012, July 19). Definition of Wrongful Discharge. Retrieved from Ehow: http://www.ehow.com/about_5085537_definition-wrongful-discharge.html Halbert, T., & Inguli. (2012 ). LAW AND ETHICS IN THE BUSINESSS ENVIRONMENT. Ohio: Cengage Learning. Lynn, D. (2012, July 19). eHow. Retrieved from eHow: http://www.ehow.com/info_7806085_purpose-hr-policies-procedures.html