Employment at Will States
Employment at will is a legal concept
referred to as the Doctrine of
Employment at Will. It essentially means that, in the absence of employment
contracts that indicate otherwise, employers generally may fire employees
for any reasons, no reasons and even unfair reasons, as long as they are
not illegal reasons.
Grammatically speaking, the term at will should
be hyphenated, as in employment at-will states or at-will
employment states. But, because not everybody knows that, we omit
the hyphen to make it easier for visitors to find this article in a Web
search.
Subsequently, it's no surprise that, after getting fired from their jobs,
some employees immediately want to know if the states in which they work
are among the so-called "employment at will states" (also referred
to as "at will employment states" or "hired at will states").
That's especially true when employees get fired for no apparent reasons
or seemingly unfair reasons.
Which are Employment at Will States?
All states are employment at will states, meaning that they all uphold
the Doctrine to some degree. To what degree regarding employers' rights
to discharge employees, varies by state.
Montana is unique in the degree at this writing, in that it upholds employment
at will only when employees are working during a probationary
period. Outside of that, employers in Montana must have good
cause to discharge employees.
For the rest of the states, the degree at which they uphold the Doctrine
and what constitutes good cause under it, depends on the exceptions they
recognize.
Which Employment at Will States Recognize Exceptions?
All employment at will states recognize certain statutory exceptions
to the Doctrine, while many also recognize one or more common-law exceptions.
Both types of exceptions render the Doctrine inapplicable when discharging
employees.
In other words, if employers ignore state-recognized exceptions when discharging
employees, then the courts will likely, in effect, rule that the employers
did not have good cause under the Doctrine, meaning that the Doctrine didn't
apply. Such discharges are illegal and collectively referred to as wrongful
discharge, more commonly called wrongful
termination.
Typically, the more common-law exceptions that a state recognizes, the
less it upholds the Doctrine regarding employers' rights to discharge employees.
Common-law exceptions are in addition to standard statutory exceptions,
such as employment discrimination. They
grant employees more ways to justifiably claim wrongful termination, by
reducing the ways employers may rightfully discharge employees under the
Doctrine.
Listed in the table to your right, are the number of employment at will
states (includes Washington, DC) that recognized the common-law exceptions
indicated, as of October 1, 2000. At the time, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana
and Rhode Island were the only states that didn't recognize any of the
exceptions listed.*
To discover more exceptions that might render the Doctrine inapplicable
in the employment at will state in which you work, refer to At
Will Employment and Wrongful Termination.
To get straight to the point for your particular situation, consult an attorney.
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