At will Employees are people too, and they may have an employment contract

    Speaking of Business practices, how are your employees today? Are they old, overweight, black, white, Asian, disabled, impaired, injured, harassed, ill, depressed… not common words that you would use to describe your employees. You may know them by name or position or their ability to hit a golf ball, catch a fish, or a family connection from the wedding you attended.

    How you think of your employees may determine your future exposure to issues that may arise in employment litigation…so with that in mind, how connected to your organization are they? Do they have a contract? Or are they at will, that is, can be released virtually at any time and for no reason?

    We will address some of these topics every so often to keep you up to speed…

"Progressive Discipline" at work may be a Problem:

    Consider the recent case of Ortega v. Wakefield Thermal Solutions where progressive discipline backfired on the employer. The company did not follow their own company’s policy. Doesn’t this create a right in a job to be terminated in a certain way and thereby your employee may not be at will at all?

    The employee relied upon the progressive discipline and therein was able to be treated as if she had a contract.

Tips

1. Disclaim: Disclaim Contract by repeatedly re-stating the at-will employment relationship exists

2. Notify: When you make changes in a policy or employee manual or handbook, make sure all employees get a copy and know its content