Employment At Will Doctrine

Companies in most states hire employees under the "at-will" doctrine. This allows the organization to terminate or relieve any employee for whatever reasons the organization deems it necessary (http://humanresources.about.com/od/dictionarya/g/at_wll.htm.). In today's society, the majority of employees have a good understanding of "Employment at Will" doctrine. "Having a stable workforce made up of highly intelligent knowledge workers is critical for providing outstanding customer service" (Brown & Stewart 252). Employees must understand and acknowledge their employment is not guaranteed by an employer. However, employees have legal rights that protect them within the workforce. As stated previously, “Employees cannot be fired for reasons …show more content…
As the COO there may come a time when you will have to justify legally firing an employee in front of a judge. State and Federal laws have gradually become more protective of employees rights, which makes it harder from employers to terminate employees. Although the employees are considered at will, there are exceptions to doctrine. "Selecting the right employees can improve the effectiveness of other human resource practices and prevent numerous problems" (Brown & Stewart 204). Even with the amount of time spent pre-screening employees, there is a good chance that a bad choice will be made. It's important to address employees concerns and problems. The following scenarios have been evaluated to determine if the COO has the legal right to terminate the employee. Often it's a manner of establishing and enforced company rules that should be outlined in a employee manual
• After being disciplined for criticizing a customer in an email (sent from his personal email account on a company computer), Joe threatens to sue the company for invasion of …show more content…
Employers in South Carolina can terminate employment with an employee, for any reason or no reason. Terminate must comply with federal and state laws provided that it is not an illegal reason. In the case Barron v. Labor Finders of South Carolina, the wrongful discharge claim was dismissed by South Carolina Supreme Court in 2011 (http://caselaw.findlaw.com/sc-court-of-appeals/1091880.html). Barron was promoted to regional sales manager for Labor Finders of South Carolina. With a promotion, Barron signed employee statement acknowledging her pay of straight commission and at will employment. In 2005, Barron filed a complaint with her supervisor that the was not paid correctly. Supervisor forwarded the complaint to ownership about Ms. Barron not receive her full commission. The next day after receiving the complaint from the supervisor, ownership terminated Ms. Barron. The company indicated it was downsizing due to recent budget cuts. One week after her termination, Labor Finders later issued a check to Ms. Barron for the amount owed to her in