1. Course : Human resource management
Abid ali BME-1110
Course : Human resource management

2. Employment at Will Policy
PRESENTATION ON …
Employment at Will Policy

3. Employment at Will Policy
Introduction
The Company does not offer tenured or guaranteed employment. Either the Company or the employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice. This is called Employment at Will.

4. History
The at-will rule has its genesis in a rule in Horace Gray Wood’s 1877 treatise on master-servant relations.
The burden of proof was on the servant to prove that an indefinite employment was formed.
Some courts saw the rule as requiring the employee to prove an express contract for a definite term in order to maintain an action based on termination of the employment
Thus was born the U.S. at-will employment rule, which allowed discharge for no reason.

5. Employment at Will Policy
At-will employment is a doctrine of American law that defines an employment relationship with no liability relationship in which either party can break.
Any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work.

6. Employment at Will Policy
Examples
Downsizing
Closing unprofitable company
Completion of any project
Seasonal termination
Inflation may be the reason for termination ….

7. Employment at Will Policy
Employees in the USA are divided into two classes
at-will employees
just-cause employees
At-will employee : In USA employee can be terminated at any time, and for any reason – or no reason at all – and the courts will generally not intervene to protect the ex-employee from the unfair treatment by the employer.

8. Employment at Will Policy
Just cause employees : can be dismissed from employment only for a good reason, such as poor job performance by the employee.

9. Employment at Will Policy
WDEA (Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act)
In 1987, the Montana legislature passed the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (WDEA).
Under the WDEA, a discharge is wrongful only if: "it was in retaliation for the employee's refusal to violate public policy or for reporting a violation of public policy; the discharge was not for good cause and the employee had completed the employer's probationary period of employment; or the employer violated the express provisions of its own written personnel policy.

10. Employment at Will Policy
IMPLIED CONTRACT EXCEPTION
Thirty-seven U.S. states (and the District of Columbia) also recognize an implied contract as an exception to at-will employment. Under the implied contract exception, an employer may not fire an employee "when an implied contract is formed between an employer and employee.
If the employer fires employee in violation of an implied employment contract, the employer may be found liable for breach of the contract.

11. Employment at Will Policy
Other reasons an employer may not use to fire an at-will employee are:
For refusing to commit illegal acts – An employer is not permitted to fire an employee because the employee refuses to commit an act that is illegal.
Family or medical leave – federal law permits most employees to take a leave of absence for specific family or medical problems. An employer is not permitted to fire an employee who takes family or medical leave for a reason outlined in the Family and Medical Leave Act.

12. Employment at Will Policy
Not following own termination procedures – often, the employee handbook or company policy outlines a procedure that must be followed before an employee is terminated. If the employer fires an employee without following this procedure, the employee may have a claim for wrongful termination.

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