Question

List out and describe importance of the “at-will” employment rule.

Answer 1

"At-will" Employment rule

According to at-will employment rule, an Employer can terminate an employee any time for any reason, as long as the reason of termination is legal, Illegal reason for termination may be Employee's race, religion or gender. This rule allows Employee and Employer to end the employment relation anytime without any explanation. This rule's importance is:

• It's important because it provides the flexibility to Employee, he can leave any time without any notice if he is getting job somewhere else, he can quit without need for any explanation. For Employer, it provides them the power to terminate the Employee anytime for any legal reason without any notice or explanation. So it provides the flexibility to both Employees and Employers to end their relation anytime.
• Defense against wrongful termination lawsuits: This rule's major importance to Employers is that it protects them from wrongful termination lawsuits. According to this rule, an Employer can terminate the Employee anytime and the Employee can't file lawsuit against Employer for wrongful termination because terminating the Employee for any legal reason is legal according to this rule, so the lawsuit can't be filed.
• No threat of Strikes or Holdouts: There is no threat of strikes or Holdouts for organization because at will Employees know that the Employer can simply terminate them if they go on strike. Employees will be productive because their job is at risk.
• Employees get promoted on the basis of their merit: promotion occurs on the basis of merit and not on seniority or other criteria. Employer is under no obligation to promote an employee based on seniority.