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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 14 page essay on the legal doctrine which states that employers can dismiss employees for any reason at any time, and, conversely, that employees can quit for any reason and at any time. This paper examines exceptions which have been made and at the current rash of ‘‘wrongful discharge'' lawsuits which are slowly changing this doctrine as it applies in the U.S. Bibliography lists 11 sources.
Page Count:
14 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Atwilemp.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
The at-will employment doctrine is thought to have evolved from English common law. It came about as a means to guarantee fairness between the employer and the employee since
it contained the presumption of annual hiring. This meant that the employer could not hire employees just for the busy season and then dismiss them, but likewise it prevented employees
from quitting before the start of the busy season and leaving the employer short-handed. (Ballam 50) Some states, such as California, codified the employment-at-will into state statutes. Other states have
had the doctrine established by case law. In other words, it was established one case at a time and is based on legal precedent rather then on written statutes. In
either case, interpretation of the doctrine has undergone a great deal of change in recent years. According to Christopher Bouvier, senior labor counsel for San Francisco-based ABM Industries, at-will
employment is dying and is very nearly a thing of the past. (Flynn 123) Bouvier was obviously making this statement based upon the current rash of wrongful discharge cases which
have come before courts across the U.S. beginning in the 1980s. Yet, despite this prediction, experts have estimated that of the approximately 3 million at-will employees who are discharged
in the U.S. each year approximately 150,000 would be found to be discharged without just cause if they had available to them the same arbitration standards that are currently available
to unionized employees. (Stieber; Rodgers 70) When the concept of at-will employment originated, it was based on the view that the employer had the absolute right to choose employees.
Application has differed from state to state. It has been a part of Californias labor code at least since the 1870s stating that an employer has the right to terminate
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