HRMG 4203: Week 6 Discussion

In the United States, all employment relationships are presumed to be ‘at will’ with the
exception of Montana. The implication is that the employer can terminate employment at any
time unless the reason for termination is unlawful (Walsh, 2016). The employer does not have to
incur any legal liability. On the flip side, an employee can decide to terminate employment
without having the possibility of legal sanctions (Coggburn, 2006). The employer is also given
the opportunity to amend the terms of employment without notice and without legal
consequences ensuing as a result of such a decision. Examples of terms of employment that can
be altered include wages and benefits. Employees are, however, vulnerable to sudden dismissal.
The employer could also alter the wages and benefits, and this may inconvenience employees.
At-will employment presumption may be modified using contracts. Contracts may put in
place certain stipulations that make the termination of the employment contract difficult. An
employment contract may stipulate grounds on which an employee may be fired. In addition,
there are certain standard exceptions that have been put in place by courts over the years. These
exceptions include implied contracts, public policy, additional tort-based claims, and promissory
estoppel (Godbole & Sashidharan, 2019). These protections are not enough to shield employees
from unfair practices. The use of a just cause would be better. A just cause means that an
employer must have sufficient grounds when disciplining employees. The reason must be just
and fair, and this means that an employer cannot make unilateral decisions.

References

Coggburn, J. D. (2006). At-will employment in government: Insights from the state of
Texas. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26(2), 158-177.

Godbole, S. S., & Sashidharan, G. (2019). Will Employment Effect Gold Buying? An Indian
Perspective. Theoretical Economics Letters, 9(05), 1225.
Walsh, D. J. (2016). Employment law for human resource practice (5th ed.). Boston, MA:
Cengage Learning.