The Pros And Cons Of Employment At Will

Employment at will is commonly known for being an outlet for employers to terminate employees or employees to leave employment at any time, for any reason, without notice. Employers in “at will” states generally apply a written agreement to fashion the law their own. States suggest that the at-will doctrine is designed to help both parties from being involved in an employer/employee relationship that is not beneficial to both parties. When it comes to the medical and law fields, employees are often terminated for following what it is right instead of company policy. When the law is followed over company protocol, employers should encourage, not terminate, ethical behavior.

The employment at will doctrine was designed in the United States from an adopted law in England that mandated employers to apply just cause for employee termination. This lead to the law Americans now know all too well; employment can be terminated, for any reason, at any time, by either the employer or employee (Sentell & Robbins, 2008). Many Americans have experienced this type of employment, and have suffered from a termination that they did not understand. In many cases, long-term employees who thought they were in their careers, are let go without explanation, left to lose their income and feel unvalued. Is this fair?

In one particular case, a nursing assistant was terminated for filing a lawsuit against a former patient of hers. When the hospital “demanded” that she drop the lawsuit, she refused and the hospital “deemed that she had resigned” (Cavico, 2005, page 192). In this case, the hospital used employment at will to pressure the nursing assistant to drop a legal matter. From a legal standpoint, the nursing assistant was well within her legal rights to file a lawsuit against an abusive patient, and yet her employer fired her because of it (Cavico,