Employment-at-Will Doctrine
In the most general understanding, the at-will employment doctrine implies the cause existing in the framework of the American labor law which claims that an employee can be laid off by the employing company without a prior warning and also without specifying any kind of just reason. On the positive side of this doctrine is allowing employees and employers additional flexibility in order to achieve the more optimal allocation of human resources, whenever the job is not of an optimal fit. Furthermore, it enables merit based promotion and reduces the probability of employee strikes. On the negative side, in some specific cases employees can be fired for minimal reasons, which are not necessarily fair and increases the workforce income uncertainty.
In the current paper, the employment at will doctrine will be discussed, supplemented by the relevant exceptions. Further, some of the suggested case studies will be evaluated, with the emphasis on the employment at will legislation and its relevant implications. Lastly, a modern case of the employment at will implementation from a specific recent situation will be discussed. These insights will highlight the importance of understanding the specific features of labor legislation in order to promote successful and smooth employer-employee relations.
Employment at Will Doctrine and Its Exceptions
As noted by Summers (2000), the employment at will in the United States was articulated by the Supreme Court of Tennessee in 1884, which entitled the employers to have additional rights regarding the working status of their employees. As of now, the doctrine is one of the fundamental pillars of the American labor law. In accordance to the employment at will, the employees can be discharged at any moment, for any reason or in the absence of such (Muhl, 2001). Under such setup, the employee who agreed to serve at will does not possess a right to the proper legal process, due to the fact that there exist no expectations of continued employment for him or her, and therefore no property interest is generated (Gertz, 2008; Lindquist and Condrey, 2006). Overall, the ability to address efficiently the actions of a problematic employee is rather beneficial for the management of organizations and their overall performance.
Exceptions to the employment at will are described, for instance, in the article by Schanzenbach (2003). First of all, there is an exception to employment at will regarding the execution of public policies: it is recognized in a number of states that the implications of certain public policies can limit the execution of the doctrine. Secondly, an exception applies to the cases of individual employment contracts, collective bargaining agreements, statutory protections and implied contracts. Lastly, there exists the so called Covenant of Good Faith, in the framework of which 11 states recognize exceptions to the employment at will doctrine which are based on the existence of the factors of just cause and good faith.
Evaluating the Case Scenarios
The case study of Marly, who started a blog in order to protest against the absence of pay raises in two consecutive years …
