What is the employment at will doctrine?How has the employment at will doctrine been eroded over the years?

jamsoftheweek

basically it boils down to you accept that 1.) you are under no obligation to work there, and as such, arent being held by the company, so you may quit at your leisure, and 2.) the company is under no obligation to employ you and may terminate your employment at any time for any reason.
its eroded because companies have instituted policies aimed at protecting their bottom line (but in some cases do not). for example, many companies have, instead of laying off employees (which usually warrant 'severance packages'), they will ask the employee to resign, or, instead of firing underperformance, they allow an employee to continue underperforming.
likewise, companies who have instituted NCAs (non-competition agreements) into employment contracts stipulate that an employee may not use knowledge or skills gained whilst employed by said company to work for a competitor for a period of time (ex: 2 years) - a very vague and ambiguious definition. in effect, it has the potential to keep a terminated employee under- or un-employed beyond his/her departure from the company.

marty

The answer to that is on the web and can be googled

WalMart uses it...................

tommy

do your own homework

Big Bear

It just means that most states can employ a person and terminate the relationship-on either end whenever one side wishes.
I don't think 'eroded' is the right term. It's more like 'abused'.
Most employers use the employee to cover people who are on vacation, going on vacation, or have some other agenda that they cannot afford to lose an employee for when given a week or two notice.
And actually these notices aren't required. Most people give them because they are intimidated into believing they need a reference.

sexylatina

From the anwer given above in regards to a "non-competetive agreement" in california this is illegal.

It's in the top 10 things employers do to get sued list ...

....Protect Business Secrets and Prevent Turnover by Requiring All Employees to Sign Non-compete Agreements....
An employee who signs a non-compete agreement is consenting not to work for one of your competitors for a certain period of time after leaving your company. While this practice is legal in many other states, California law specifically prohibits non-compete agreements.

In November 2001, a California Court of Appeal up-held a $1.26 million jury award for an account manager who was terminated by Aetna U.S. Healthcare when she refused to sign a non-compete agreement. The court held the termination for refusing to sign an illegal agreement was a willful and oppressive violation of California law, entitling the manager to punitive damages.

Now as far as from what I know about ''at-will'' employment:
This means that your employment with the Company is voluntarily entered into and you are free to resign at any time. Similarly, the Company is free to terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause or prior notice, as it deems appropriate. This also means that policies that affect yout employment relationship may be changed from time to time in the Companyâ€™s discretion and that the Company retains discretion to take other actions as well, such as transfer, reassignment or disciplinary action. At-will employment relationship can be changed only in a written agreement signed by you and the Companyâ€™s President.

IT IS ABUSED EVERYWHERE FOR THE COMPANIES' BENEFIT, I agree with you.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: