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Employment at will" doctrine yes or no
Assignment 2: Employment-At-Will Doctrine
At will employment issue
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Employer-Employee Relationship Paper
The United States government has guidelines that dictate how companies interact with its employees to make sure all parties are equally covered in regards to employment rights. When Mary is let go from her job as a programmer from the Little Lamb Company and then subsequently not rehired when a job opening becomes available some questions arise. In this paper the questions of Mary’s status as an independent contractor or an employee, the employer/employee relationship changes over the course of time, and the release legal under the doctrine of employment-at-will will be addressed and answered.
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR/EMPLOYEE
The status of Mary being an independent contractor versus employee can always be a tricky point due to the nature of the type of work that is being done. According to the Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide provided by the IRS, “An employer must generally withhold federal income taxes, withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes, and pay unemployment tax on wages paid to an employee. An employer does not generally have to with- hold or pay any taxes on payments to independent contractors (Department of the Treasury, 2008).” The textbook Employment Law for Business states independent contractors as, “A person who contracts with a principal to perform a task according to her or his own methods, and who is not under the principal’s control regarding the physical details of the work (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman, 2007).” While both of these definitions sound all well and good it can be very hard to determine if in fact a person on in this case Mary is an employee thusly the IRS came up with a series of questions that separates the two. The IRS 20 factor test is uses the term control be it, “behavioral control, financial control, and the type of relationship of the parties” to determine the work status (Department of the Treasury, 2008). One of the key elements of the test is the use of contracts for certain work to be accomplished. Mary is a prime example of this because as a programmer she is hired under contract to complete a project. At the beginning of Mary’s employment it is a standard clear cut case of independent contractor employment. When the new project is introduced to the equation the issue really starts to become interesting.
CHANGE IN EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIP
When the project is nearing completion, a new need arises for Mary’s services to continue with the company to complete the new project.
In Laduzinski v. Alvarez & Marsal Taxand LLC, plaintiff was looking for a job with defendant, Alvarez & Marsal Taxand LLC. Plaintiff, Laduzinski, claimed that he was lured away from his job under false pretenses since defendants hired him to get access to his contacts. Nine months later, after plaintiff had given all his contacts, the manager of the Alvarez companies fired him because there was no work for him. Laduzinski brought a claim to recover damages for fraud in the inducement. The lower court dismissed plaintiff’s claims because plaintiff was an “at will” employee. After Laduzinski appealed, the issues were whether the complaint stated a cause of action for fraudulent inducement, despite that Laduzinski was an at-will employee; and whether the alleged misrepresentations were actionable statements of present fact or non-actionable future promises.
Sloane. A. A., Witney, F. (2010). LABOR RELATIONS (13th editions). Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ
With the economy beginning to rebound, many companies are looking for every way possible to save money and/or maximize profits. One of the biggest costs incurred by any business is labor. Consequently, employers sometimes attempt to minimize this expense by utilizing independent contractors instead of employees. There are potential risks for employers who mischaracterize an employee as an independent contractor, because, while it may save payroll taxes and other benefit costs in the short term, it may lead to penalties on such taxes as well as other inadvertent violations of worker’s compensation laws, FMLA, etc, which each hold separate penalties for violation.
Bennett-Alexander, Dawn D. & Hartman, Laura P. (2001). Employment Law for Business (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing. Downloaded February 4, 2008 from the data base of http://www.eeoc.gov
The Australian Human Rights Commission (2011:p1) states that “Gender equality is a principal that lies at the heart of a fair and productive society”. If gender equality is the heart of a fair and productive society than the laws and regulations in place must be the key in maintaining a fair and productive society. If regulations and laws are not frequently discussed, debated and reviewed than issues such as sex discrimination in particular can be sufficiently dealt with or ignored. The Carter v Linuki Pty t/as Aussie & Anor [2005] NSWADTAP 40 (22 August 2005) will be used to demonstrate the regulations surrounding sexual discrimination. In this paper a thoroughly investigation into the recent changes in laws and regulations encompassing sexual discrimination will be conducted in relation to the case provided. By using the elements of the case the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) will be applied to the facts presented in order to explain the regulation surrounding this issue. Since the case involves a work related situation where the employee was discriminated on the basis of gender the SDA will be used. A Brief description on the impact of exclusion will be provided to demonstrate the causal link between exclusion and gender discrimination. Firstly, the case’s elements will now be analysed.
Moran, J. J. (2008). Employment law: New challenges in the business environment. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
In dealing with a person’s livelihood, and often, sense of self, it is of no surprise that ethical issues regarding employment practices are of great concern. The issues of employment at will and due process contracts in the workplace are among the most widely contentious in the realm of employment. Employment at will is the doctrine that employment may be ended, by either party, for good, bad or no cause at all.1 Due process, on the other hand, is the employment practice in which a person may appeal a decision as a means of receiving an explanation and the opportunity to argue against it.2 Employment at will is the standard in the majority of private corporations today and is argued for relentlessly by freedom of contract enthusiasts, however, it is becoming ever more apparent that employment at will contracts reflect the old corporate maxim where the single bottom line, profit, is accented and the well being of other stakeholders, in this case the employee, are of little or no influence. Due process should be accepted as the prevalent employment system as it shelters employees from the hostile actions of the more powerful employer, provides a stable, bilateral contract between both parties and portrays the growing ethical concerns of society.
United States of America. National Employment Law Project. National Employment Law Project. N.p., Jan. 2011. Web. 18 May 2014.
Labour and Employment Law. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Publishing Company.
The relationship between employer and employees plays a pivotal role in the performance of the organization. Employers and employees have certain responsibilities towards each other which facilitate a fair and productive workplace. Positive work relationships create a cooperative climate with effort towards the same goals. Conflict, on the other hand, is likely to divert attention away from organizational performance.
Employment relations refer to the relationship between the employer and the employee. Employment relations are governed by the provisions of the employment contract and/or collective agreement where applicable, common law principles and legislative provisions governing specific situations. Many factors in the external environment have an effect on the employment relations within an organization, which they need to monitor and possibly adapt to the necessary changes. The external environmental factors that would influence employment relations are political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental.
Traditional literature in the field of labor relations has focused immensely on its benefit towards the employer and in the process equating it to working rules. This has been so despite the field being expected to cover the process of, labor management, union formation, and collective bargain; all which are anticipated to create a positive employer-employee relationship. This relationship is said to be positive if there exist a balance between employment functions and the rights of the laborer. Also important to note, is that this relation is equally important to the public sector as it is to the private one. Therefore, to ensure a mutually conducive labor environment exists, effective labor management process and inclusive negotiation program should be adopted (Mulve 2006; Walton, 2008).
Part 2 of Employer Duties and Rights- management rights, subcontracting, just-cause discipline and discharge, and safety standards.
Conflict exists in every organization as a result of incompatible needs, goals, and objectives of two people while aligning to the overall business requirements. Though disagreement is linked with negative impact, the approach has healthy considerations (Leung, 2008). For instance, some conflicts create an avenue for the exchange of ideas and creativity to meet the set organizational purposes. However, damaging disagreement in organizations results in employee dissatisfaction, turnover, and poor services and reduced productivity. The paper establishes different types of interpersonal conflict and key resolution strategies used to address the problem. Human resource managers need to have the capacity to identify different levels of conflicts and the best methods to negate them.