Webinar: The Employment At-Will Doctrine - Friend or Foe to HR Professionals?
An employee may be dismissed at any time, for any lawful reason, or for no reason at all, with or without prior notice. Similarly, an employee may resign at any time, and for any reason or no reason at all, with or without prior notice.
To HR professionals, the employment at-will doctrine (EAWD) is a friend, right?
Well, that depends on how they use it. For over 100 years, US employers and (for a shorter time) HR professionals have relied on the EAWD for various reasons:
- It provides them with flexibility in making disciplinary or termination decisions pertaining to employees.
- It provides them with a somewhat effective defense in the event of disputes or litigation with former employees regarding contract status.
- It offers both employers and employees flexibility in the timing of the termination or resignation decisions.
But in the last half-century, the EAWD has been eroded by various exceptions. It has become so complicated, so litigious, that an employer is often left to wonder whether it really helps at all.
The question then becomes, how do you use the EAWD in your company? Do you drive employees to protect their jobs, or do you encourage the open discussion of ideas that would benefit your company? In other words, do your employees view the EAWD as a carrot or a stick?
This webinar is designed to strip away the complexity of the EAWD so that employers can harness the protections it offers without having to tiptoe through a minefield of exceptions. Additionally, employers will discover how not to use the EAWD as a punitive tool with employees, so as to harness their full potential.
